The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections are scheduled for Oct 29. The Independent Group, also known as the Asma Jahangir Group, has nominated Syed Amjad Ali Shah for the presidency, while the Professional Group, led by Hamid Khan, has fielded Sardar Aman Khan.
Meanwhile, Captain Safdar has announced the formation of his own group, the Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah Group, and invited lawyers to join it. He said the group would also contest the upcoming SCBA elections.
Speaking to the media, Safdar alleged that the law degree of one of the candidates for the SCBA presidency was fake and called for its verification.
He also demanded verification of the academic credentials of senior lawyers, including Ahsan Bhoon, a former SCBA president and close associate of Federal Law and Justice Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. Bhoon is currently a member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan and heads the Independent Group.
Safdar further alleged that some prominent lawyers charged clients on a “done basis”, referring to arrangements in which lawyers allegedly demand substantial fees while guaranteeing favourable court outcomes.
He called for such practices to be stopped and said lawyers found to have questionable credentials should be removed from the profession.
Pakistan Bar Council member Shafqat Chohan, who belongs to the Professional Group, supported the call for verification, saying lawyers seeking SCBA office should hold valid law degrees.
Senior lawyer Muhammad Siddique Awan, a prominent member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Lawyers Forum, also called for the verification of degrees held by candidates contesting the SCBA elections from both groups.
Awan said the SCBA had around 5,000 members and suggested that the academic credentials of all members should eventually be verified. He noted that several lawyers had previously been found to possess invalid or fraudulent degrees.
He also referred to the recent removal of Islamabad High Court judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri over an issue concerning the validity of his law degree.
Independent Group presidential candidate Syed Amjad Ali Shah, however, rejected Safdar’s allegations and described them as the result of a personal dispute.
Shah alleged that Safdar had previously asked him to represent a party in a property dispute in Mansehra involving the brother of a former Supreme Court judge. Shah said he declined the case because he lived in the same area as Safdar and the judge’s brother and did not want to become involved in a local dispute.
According to Shah, Safdar viewed his refusal as disobedience and subsequently targeted him.
Shah said that if Safdar genuinely wanted his law degree verified, he should have followed the appropriate legal and institutional procedures rather than making allegations through the media.
Shah also alleged that Safdar’s conduct had caused resentment among some local notables in Mansehra. He further claimed that this was one of the factors behind former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s failure to win a National Assembly seat from the district.
