Asma Jehangir Group wins: Abdul Latif Afridi elected as SCBA president

By News desk

PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD: Senior lawyer from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Abdul Latif Afridi, was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association on Thursday.

Sindh respectively. Ahmed Shahzad Farooq Rana was elected as Secretary and Muhammad Afzal Janjua as Finance Secretary. Abdul Malik Baloch and Abdul Razzak Shar were elected as Member Executive from Balochistan, Fida Bahadur and Hayat Ullah Khan from KPK, Arif Mehmood Chaudhary and Muhammad Nasir Iqbal Siddiqui from Punjab, Jam Asif Mehmood Lar and Javaid Ahmed Chhatari from Sindh.

Ltif Afridi, known as Latif Lala out of respect by those younger than him, was the candidate of the Asma Jehangir Group, which is known after her even after her death. Nowadays senior lawyers Ahsan Bhoom, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Kamran Murtaza and others are leading this group. The Hamid Khan-led Professional Lawyers Group had fielded Abdul Sattar Khan for the top slot. Latif Afridi is one of the senior most lawyers in Peshawar and has remained the president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association. He has remained associated with progressive, secular and nationalist parties. His last association was with ANP. He was once elected as MNA.

Abdul Sattar Khan too is a senior lawyer based in Peshawar. This was the turn of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the rotation rules to get its nominee elected as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Latif Afridi and his panel remained successful in all the provinces by a significant margin.

In total, Latif Afridi got 1,236 votes while Sattar Khan secured 968 votes. In Punjab, Latif Afridi got 651 votes against 508 polled by his rival. The lead in Punjab was 143 votes. Latif Afridi bagged 546 votes in Lahore against 377 of his rival Sattar Khan, according to a local lawyer Sangeen Khan. In Multan, the winner obtained 69 votes while Sattar got 93. In Bahawalpur Latif Afridi got 36 against 39 of Sattar Khan.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Latif Afridi got 106 votes and his rival bagged 94. From Peshawar, Latif Afridi received 70 while Sattar got 72. In Abbottabad, Latif Afridi secured 26 votes while Sattar Khan polled 11 votes. In Dera Ismail Khan, Latif Afridi got 10 while Sattar managed 11 votes. In Sindh, Latif Afridi got 189 against 142 obtained by Sattar Khan. From Karachi, Latif Afridi bagged 142 while his rival got 118. Besides, Latif Lala got 32 votes against nine polled by his rival in Hyderabad. In Sukkur he got 15 while Sattar managed 14 votes. In Quetta, Latif Afridi polled 64 votes while his rival received 53.From the federal capital, Latif Afridi got 226 while Sattar Khan secured 171 votes.

"The election of Latif Afridi belonging to the Asma Jahangir Group as President of Supreme Court Bar Association is victory for all those struggling for democracy and supremacy of the Constitution," said senior nationalist politician Afrasiab Khattak.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other leaders called the newly elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and expressed their support. "Congratulations to Lala Afridi, his panel and Asma Jehangir Group on their glorious victory, that too against all odds," said Maryam Nawaz, vice-president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.