Veteran lawyer Latif Afridi elected SCBA president

PESHAWAR: Veteran counsel Abdul Latif Afridi of the Independent Group of lawyers was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association in the annual elections held on Thursday.

Afridi, who is known as Latif Lala out of respect, was a candidate for the Asma Jahangir Group. He defeated the Hamid Khan-led Professional Lawyers Group nominee Abdul Sattar Khan for the top slot. The Independent Group also managed to snatch the vice-president posts in Punjab and Sindh. 

Keeping in view the SCBA rotation rules, both candidates were from Peshawar since it was KP's turn to nominate the president. 

One of the senior-most lawyers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Afridi has previously served as the president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association. In his career, Afridi associated with progressive, secular and nationalist parties in the past and was also elected as a lawmaker. His last association was with the Asfandyar Wali Khan-led ANP. 

According to The News, Afridi bagged a total of 1,236 votes while Sattar Khan only managed to secure 968 votes.

In Punjab, Afridi got 651 votes against 508 polled by his rival. Afridi had 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, 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 a victory for all those struggling for democracy and supremacy of the Constitution," said politician Afrasiab Khattak.