Polling in the annual elections of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has got underway across the country, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.
The voting will continue till 5:00 in the evening without any break.
As many as 4,379 lawyers will cast their votes for 13 seats, while 34 candidates are competing for different seats.
Tough contest is being expected between Asima Jahangir’s Group candidate Haroon Rasheed and Hamid Khan Group’s candidate Taufeeq Asif for the seat of president.
Similarly, Mian Irfan Akram and Malik Zahid Aslam Awan are competing for the seat of secretary; Qazi Ghulam Dastgir and Sardar Tariq Hussain for the seat of additional secretary; Advocate Tanveer Chaudhry and Saira Khalid Rajpoot for the seat of finance secretary.
Likewise, Muhammad Habib Qureshi, Chaudhry Arshad Hussain and Khalid Masood Sindhu are vying for the seat of vice president Punjab; Advocate Liaquat Ali Tarin and Rehmatullah Sadozai for the seat of vice president Balochistan; Fazal Shah Mehmood and Habib Qureshi for the seat of vice president KP, and Malik Khushhal Khan and Muhammad Lutfullah Arain for the seat of vice president Sindh.
As many as 805 voters of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad will exercise their right to franchise at the Supreme Court’s principal seat in Islamabad.
As many as 20 polling booths have been set up at the Supreme Court’s Lahore registry where 1,460 lawyers will cast their votes.
In KP, 593 lawyers have been declared eligible to cast their votes; in Sindh 741; in Balochistan 322; in Multan 315 and in Bahawalpur 145.
Most of the enthusiasm is being witnessed in Lahore where strict security arrangements have been made.
The road connecting the GPO Chowk to the AG Office has been closed for traffic.
The results are expected to be announced late at night.
Reporters: Amanat Gishkori, Malik Ashraf, Mehr Imran