UNB, Dhaka :The first day of the two-day staggered annual election to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to elect its 14- member executive committee for 2015-16 year passed peacefully on Sunday.Closing the voting for the day, advocate M Harun-or-Rashid, convener of the seven-member election sub-committee, told reporters that some 1804 voters out of 4362 cast their votes that began at 10 am and continued till 5 pm with an hour of lunch break.”The vote counting starts on Monday after closing the booths at 5 pm,” he added.Thirty-one candidates are contesting the election to the apex court bar of the country.Virtually, two panels are contesting the SCBA election. The panels are Sammilita Ainjibi Samannay Parishad (SASP), backed by the ruling Awami League-led 14 party alliance and Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Oikya Panel (JAOP) which is backed by the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami-led 20-party alliance.Outgoing SCBA president Khandker Mahbub Hossain, also BNP chairperson’ s adviser, and secretary AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, also a BNP joint secretary general, are contesting to retain their posts for the second consecutive terms.
