LHCBA elects two women as senior office-bearers

27 Feb, 2023

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) on Saturday made history by electing two women for the first time, Sabahat Rizvi as secretary and Rabiyya Bajwa as vice President of the bar for the year 2023-24.

However, Chaudhry Ishtiaq A. Khan of the professional group led by Hamid Khan defeated Lehrasib Khan Gondal of the Independent group by a big margin for the slot of the President bar for the year 2023-24. Chaudhry Ishtiaq bagged 7293 votes against 3372 secured by Gondal.

Sabahat Rizvi bagged 4310 votes against her two male rivals and become secretary of the bar. Qadir Bakhsh Chahal and Mian Muhammad Irfan contested for the office of the secretary. This was her first election. She has an association with the Independent group, also known as the Asma Jahangir group; however, a majority of the lawyers supported her beyond groupings.

Rabbiya Bajwa a senior leader of the Hamid Khan-led Professional group was elected vice president of the bar by securing 3590 votes against her five male rivals.

Other candidates who vied for the vice president were Iftikhar Ali Bhatti, Chaudhry Ahmad Khan Gondal, Abdul Rauf Bhatti, Mian Sardar Ali Gehlan, and Waris Ali Saroya.

Rabiyya was previously elected finance secretary of the bar in 2006.

Hamid Khan is a sitting member of the Pakistan Bar Council, a top regulatory body of lawyers in the country, and a former president of the bar. Being a member of the Insaf Lawyers Forum, he was supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Shahrukh Shahbaz Warraich was elected finance secretary of the bar by getting 7109 votes. His rivals Amir Sohail Bosal and Adil Naeem Sheikh obtained 2442 and 1073 votes respectively.

As many as 10776 out of 26043 bar members cast their votes in the polling held on a biometric system. Chairman election board Chaudhry Imran Masood was the Chairman of the election board.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

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