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Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
After the adoption of the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) elections, scheduled for December 13, are considered crucial as professional and independent groups claim to secure majority in the apex body of lawyers for the next five years.
Members of the Provincial and Islamabad Bar Councils, who are voters in this election, will elect 23 members of the Bar Council of Pakistan, their respective provinces and ICT.
The importance of the election can be gauged from the fact that Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja are contesting the elections.
The majority of PBC members nominate their representative to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) – a constitutional body for appointing judges.
The Independent Group, known as a pro-government group, has remained in the majority in the PBC since 2010. The group’s members still claim they will gain a majority in the next election.
On the other hand, the professional group, which is pro-PTI and strong critic of two constitutional amendments, is confident that they will get majority in total 23 members of the PBC.
A total of 59 candidates have submitted their nomination papers for the election of members of the Bar Council of Pakistan across the country.
Five candidates have filed their nomination papers for the sole seat of Member of Pakistan Bar Council from Balochistan Province,
Eleven candidates have filed applications for four reserved seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 27 candidates for eleven seats allotted to Punjab and 14 candidates for six reserved seats in Sindh while two candidates for one reserved seat for ICT.
Independent Group members say they will get eight seats in Punjab, three in KP, three in Sindh and one in ICT.
On the other hand, the professional group members are confident that they will be able to win five seats in Punjab, two in KP, three in Sindh and one in Balochistan.
A member belonging to the professional group even revealed that the group was striving to get five seats in Punjab and four seats in Sindh, stating that it was making extra efforts to get one seat from ICT.
It is learned that the Independent Group members get majority support from PBC members belonging to South Punjab, Sargodha and Faisalabad, while the Professional Group claims support from majority members belonging to Lahore, Guranwala and Rawalpindi divisions.
In Balochistan, the contesting candidates are Munir Ahmad Khan Kakar, Rehmatullah Barech, Jameel Ahmed Khan, Amanullah Kanrani and Muhammad Rauf Atta.
Munir Kakar is the favorite candidate among them.
In KP, the contesting candidates are Syed Amjad Shah, Noor Alam Khan, Qazi Muhammad Arshad, Khush Dil Khan, Rehmanullah, Atlas Khan, Malik Akhtar Hussain Awan, Abdul Sattar Khan, Qazi Muhammad Anwar, Naveed Akhtar and Kausar Ali Shah.
We learn that the legal wing of the ANP will easily be able to obtain two seats in the province. It will be interesting to see how the PTI-backed professional group will get three seats in the KP.
One member says the group has an advantage since the PTI rules the province. He admitted that the group could not get majority in the KP Bar Council elections.
In Punjab, Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Syed Qalb-i-Hassan, Ch. Tahir Nasrullah Warraich, Saqib Akram Gondal, Hafeez-ur-Rehman Chaudhry, Pir Muhammad Masood Chishti, Muhammad Maqsood Buttar, Amir Saeed Rawn, Pervaiz Inayat Malik, Asif Mehmood Cheema, Zulfiqar Ali, Mahmood Ashraf Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan, Ahmad Awais, Shafqat Mehmood Chohan, Rana Zia Abdul Rehman, Khadim Hussain Qaiser, Malik Ghulam Mustafa Kandwal, Zafar Mahmood Mughal.
In Sindh, Salahuddin Ahmed, Muhammad Lutfullah Arain, Munir Ahmed Malik, Shahab Sarki, Muhammad Nadeem Qureshi, Abid Shahid Zuberi, Rana Muhammad Shamim, Ubedullah Malano, Fazal Qadir Memon, Farooq Hamid Naek, Hameedullah Dahri, Muzaffar Ali Laghari, Abdul Jabbar Qureshi and Muhammad Saleem Mangrio.
In ICT, Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Syed Qamar Hussain Shah Sabzwari are in the fray.
Examination of proposal letters (candidate files) will take place at the office of the Returning Officer, Islamabad on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. The vote will take place on Saturday December 13, 2025 in the four provincial capitals and in the offices of the attorney general.
