Hyderabad bar polls deferred again over voters list

HYDERABAD:

A day before the twice-postponed election of the District Bar Association Hyderabad, the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) on Friday deferred the polls once again, citing "defects" and "discrepancies" in the voters list. The SBC's executive committee announced August 20 as the new date for the election and gave the bar one week to rectify the electoral roll.

The committee raised questions about authenticity of the voters list which the incumbent president and general secretary of the bar had submitted on August 4. "Upon scrutiny of the list ... serious discrepancies were noticed."

According to the committee, the list was returned to the bar which on Friday wrote to the committee that the SBC should itself scrutinise the voters list and grant further time to the district bar for the list's verification. "The explanation furnished is not satisfactory," the committee said.

"The president and general secretary have failed to correct the defects and discrepancies pointed out in the voters list." The committee made specific reference to young lawyers emphasising that none of them should be denied the voting right.

The committee warned the bar's office bearers that they are being given a final opportunity for the corrections of discrepancies, omissions, duplicate entries and exclusion of ineligible voters. They were cautioned of facing proceedings under the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules, 1976, if they failed again. An office bearer of the bar informed that they will complete renewed verification of the list in a couple of days.