Bar Council polls May 14: Lawyers busy in campaigning

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Gulam Rabbani :
Election of Bangladesh Bar Council, a licensing and regularity body of all Advocates of Bangladesh, will be held on May 14 in 2018. The voting will take place from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm at the Supreme Court Bar Association center, all the Civil Court campuses and also in the Bajitpur center of Kishoreganj.
Sources said, as many as 62 candidates submitted their nomination papers this year. The date of withdrawal of the candidacy is today.
As done in the past, the pro-Awami League and the pro-BNP lawyers are taking part in the elections, held once in every three years. The senior lawyers are passing busy time in the election campaign.
Sources said, the top most leaders of both the parties are keeping eyes on this election. But they have to wait till May 14 to see whose prospect will be reflected in the election.
The pro-Awami League lawyers have been working united to triumph in the bar council election after the massive fiasco in the elections of the Dhaka Bar Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association. On the other hand, the pro-BNP lawyers are dreaming to win all the posts in bar council elections.
The bar council election takes place after every three years, as per rule. The Statutory Autonomous Body of the Government constituted under the Bangladesh Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Order, 1972 (President’s Order No. 46 of 1972), consists of 15 Members. The Attorney General of Bangladesh is the Chairman ex-officio. Others are elected by Advocates for a term of three years from amongst themselves, of whom seven from General Seats and seven from seven Zonal or Group Seats.
Sources said, a total of 43 thousand and 713 Advocates will exercise their voting rights in the upcoming elections. The council has formed a three-member tribunal for the hearing of the election related objections. Justice Syed Amirul Islam, a former judge of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, has been nominated Chairman of the tribunal and other two members of the tribunal are Justice Farid Amed, a sitting judge of the High Court Division, and Advocate Ozi Ullah, a senior lawyer of the SCBA.
Pro-Awami League and pro-BNP lawyers have had several meetings with the top most leaders of their own party to finalize their own panel.
Among the pro-Awami League panel, Advocate Abdul Baset Majumder, Advocate Yusuf Hossain Humayun, Advocate Syed Rezaur Rahman, Advocate Z I Khan Panna, Advocate Mukhlesur Rahman Badal, Advocate Parimal Chandra Guha and Advocate S M Rezaul Karim are participating in the elections for the posts of General Seats.
Advocate Kazi Najibullah Hiru, Advocate Md Kabir Uddin Bhuiyan, Advocate Ibrahim Hossain Chowdhury Babul, Advocate A F Md Ruhul Anam Chowdhury, Advocate Pervez Alam Khan, Advocate Md Yahia and Advocate Md Rezaul Karim are participating in the elections for the posts of Zonal Seats from pro-Awami panel.
Among the pro-BNP panel, Advocate A J Mohammad Ali, Advocate Fazlur Rahman, Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker, Advocate Borhanuddin, Advocate Helal Uddin Molla, Advocate Md Abbas Uddin and Advocate Syed Asifa Ashrafee Papia are contesting in the elections for the posts of General Seats.
Advocate Md Mohsin Miah, Advocate Badhon Kumar Goswami, Advocate Mukhlesur Rahman, Advocate Md Delwar Hossain Chowdhury, Advocate S R Farooq and Advocate Md Ishaq are participating in the elections for the posts of Zonal Seats from pro-BNP panel.
Advocate Abdul Baset Majumder, who is now the Vice-Chairman of the council, said, he is hopeful to win the election with full panel.
“We are working hard and we are trying to do the best for the lawyers of the country. So, we hope, the lawyers will support us,” he said.
Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker, one of the pro-BNP candidates, said, “We are campaigning. The lawyers’ opinion is on our side. We are hopeful to win all the seats.”
But he alleged that election field is not level playing as the pro-Awami lawyers are getting support from the administration at the campaigning time.
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