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Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ARCHIVE
ISLAMABAD:
After the passage of the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) election, scheduled for December 13, is considered crucial as both professional and independent groups have been claiming to get a majority in the highest bar regularity body 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 Pakistan Bar Council, from their respective provinces and from ICT.
The importance of the elections can be gauged from the fact that Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Salman Akram Raja are participating in the elections.
Most PBC members nominate their representative to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), a constitutional judge-appointing body.
The Independent Group, known as a pro-government group, has maintained a majority in the PBC since 2010. Members of the group still claim that they will win a majority in the next election.
On the other hand, the Professional group, which is pro-PTI and a strong critic of two constitutional amendments, is confident of getting a majority in a total of 23 members of the PBC.
A total of 59 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the election of Pakistan Bar Council members from across the country.
Five candidates have filed their nomination papers for the sole post of Pakistan Bar Council member from Balochistan province.
Eleven candidates have filed their candidatures for four reserved seats for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 27 candidates for eleven reserved seats for Punjab and 14 candidates for six reserved seats for Sindh, while two candidates for one reserved seat for ICT.
The Independent Group members claim that they will get eight seats in Punjab, three in KP, three in Sindh and one in ICT.
On the other hand, members of the Professional group are quite confident of getting 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 is working to secure five seats in Punjab, four seats in Sindh, stating that they are making an extra effort to secure one ICT seat.
The Independent Group members are known to get majority support from PBC members who belonged to South Punjab, Sargodha and Faisalabad, while the Professional Group claims support from majority members who belonged 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.
Among them, Munir Kakar is the favorite candidate.
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.
It is known that the legal wing of the ANP will easily be able to get two seats in the province. It will be interesting to see how the PTI-backed Professional Group will win three seats in KP.
A member says the group has an advantage since the PTI rules the province. He admitted that the group failed to win majority seats in the KP bar council elections.
In Punjab, Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Syed Qalb-i-Hassan, Ch. Ashraf Khan, Muhammad Ilyas Sheikh, Sh. Ahsan ud Din, Mian Abdul Qaddous, Muhammad Asad Manzoor Butt, Salman Akram Raja, Mushtaq Ahmad Mohal, Ch. Zulfiqar Ali, Ch. 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 race.
Scrutiny of proposal letters (nomination documents) will be held at the returning officer’s office, Islamabad, on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 10:00 am Voting will be held on Saturday, December 13, 2025 in the four provincial capitals and ICT Attorney General’s Offices.
