LAHORE: Asma Jahangir group’s Syed Qalab-e-Hassan has been elected by a wide margin as the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president at the SCBA annual election 2019-20.
Hassan belongs to Islamabad and has worked as a judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) from February 15, 2008 till July 31, 2009. Currently, he is a member of Pakistan Bar Council’s (PBC) enrollment committee.
He bagged 400 votes more than the runner-up Shoaib Shaheen of the Hamid Khan Group. Shaheen’s defeat is a setback for the federal government as Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem and Attorney General for Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan were actively involved in his election campaign.
Lawyer wings of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) backed the Asma Group’s candidate.
However, the SCBA secretary’s seat was won by Malik Shamim – a candidate belonging to the Hamid Khan Group – by a small margin.
Talking to reporters late on Thursday, Hassan demanded the resignation of Law Minister Naseem, who, according to him, was involved in pre-poll rigging by giving different offers to lawyers for gaining support for the opponent candidate.
Asma Group senior leader Yasin Azad told reporters that the newly elected SCBA office-bearers will keep supporting Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who is facing a presidential reference for not disclosing his family members’ foreign assets.
