Replies sought on plea for minority quota in bar polls

LAHORE:The Lahore High Court on Monday issued notices to Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) and others on a petition seeking a quota for minority members in the bars elections.

Advocate Ijaz Farhat pleaded in his petition that the population of Christian community in Pakistan was around 10 million and a large number of them were associated with the legal profession as lawyers. He said a quota for them had been allocated in the government’s jobs and in national and provincial assemblies.

However, he said, no quota had been reserved for the Christians and other minority communities in the election of the bar councils and associations. He said the minority communities had been deprived of their due representations in the bar politics. The lawyer asked the court to order the PBC and PbBC, both regulatory bodies, to reserve quota for the members of the minority community in the elections.

Justice Ayesha A Malik heard initial arguments of the petitioner and sought replies from the respondent bar councils and association.