Daily Times

For the High Court Bar Association Abbottabad (HCBA) annual election 2022/23, nomination papers of 16 candidates including president and general secretaries were rejected.

The nomination papers of presidential candidate Sardar Aman Advocate were accepted.

Candidates have appealed against the decision in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council while polling will be held on May 14. Candidates for High Court Bar Association Abbottabad Bench are required by law to submit 45 power of attorney for the preceding 3 years. According to the decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and on the instructions of the Bar Council Act and Pakistan Bar Council, those who submit incomplete and double power of attorney will not be eligible to participate in the election.

Three years back, Shabnam Nawaz Advocate filed a petition in PHC Abbottabad bench against the HCBA elections criteria and requested the bench to allow only practicing lawyers for elections which was accepted and the bench in its verdict declared to submit 45 power of attorney along with nomination papers for HCBA elections.

According to the notification issued by Chairman Election Board Muhammad Shafiq Awan Advocate the nomination papers of presidential candidate Sardar Aman were accepted following the High Court verdict, Bar Council Act, and Pakistan Bar Council directive.The nomination papers of three presidential candidates Qazi Azhar Advocate, Mehdi Zaman and Nawaz Khan Swati were rejected due to incomplete papers while papers for the candidate of Vice President Sye4d Hammad Shah, two candidates of General Secretary Musadaq Khan and Noman Malik papers were also rejected.

Similarly, two candidates for Additional Secretary including Fida Muhammad Advocate, and Maaloof-ud-Din Advocate were also rejected, nomination papers of candidates Raheel Yaqub and Syed Zulfiqar Shah for Library Secretary were also declared incomplete and rejected.The papers of Sardar Shah Nawaz and Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah for the slot of Finance Secretary were rejected, Sajid Ali Advocate also came under the Bar Council Act, whose papers were rejected.

Besides the male candidate, the nomination papers of female executive members of the High Court Bar Association Abbottabad Bench including Faiza Malik, Ayesha Tabassum, and Sardar Amber were rejected.