Rasheed Rizvi elected SCBA president

He was supported by lawyers affiliated with PTI, JU-I and a faction of PML-N lawyers

LAHORE: Hamid Khan-led Professional group won on Monday top posts of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) after six years as Rashid A. Rizvi defeated Farooq H. Naek of Asma Jahangir-led Independent group for the post of president with a large margin in the election for year 2016-17.

Both presidential candidates are from Sindh while candidates who contested the polls for the post of secretary are from Lahore.

Hamid Khan, who was among lawyer leaders who launched a protest movement for the restoration of judiciary during the Musharraf regime, joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and is now its vice-president.



Rizvi secured 1,289 votes against 1,060 bagged by Naek. Aftab Ahmad Bajwa of the Professional group was elected to the post of secretary. He obtained 1,060 votes against Safdar Hussain Tarar, who got 945 votes.

Rizvi was supported by lawyers affiliated with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Jamat-i-Islami and a faction of PML-N lawyers. Lawyer wings of PPP, PML-Q, ANP and JUI-F supported Naek. A majority of PML-N lawyers also supported him.

Rizvi had served as president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association four times and an active member of the Pakistan Bar Council. He is a former judge of the Sindh High Court who refused to swear oath under PCO 2000 promulgated by Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf. Naek is a former law minister and senator of PPP.

Asma Jahangir’s group had been winning elections since she won elections in 2010 as the president of the SCBA. Ali Ahmed Kurd and Aitzaz Ahsan were Asma’s predecessors, who won the post of president of SCBA with record majority.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st , 2016.