ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice approved significant amendments to the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, involving stricter eligibility requirements for candidates contesting bar council elections, with a PPP senator crying foul.

The meeting was chaired by Senator Farooq Hamid Naek, who happens to be from PPP, while another PPP Senator Shahadat Awan raised serious objections to the proposed changes to the eligibility criterion for bar council candidates in the election year.

The change in the eligibility requirement of enrollment as a high court advocate from five to 10 years was specifically opposed by Senator Awan as mala fide, saying it was aimed at keeping young lawyers away from the electoral race.

The condition of the candidate having handled at least 50 individual cases was also opposed by the PPP Senator and the law minister`s intervention finally brought it down to 30 cases.

After a detailed clause-byclause review, the committee approved the bill with amendments.

Under the new provisions, the elections for bar councils will now `mandatorily be heldon the first Saturday of November and in no case beyond the second Saturday of November. This change institutionalises predictability and uniformity in the electoral process across all provincial and federal bar councils`, said a press release issued by Senate`s media wing.

Disqualification of membership will be upon individuals convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude, or sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more (unless released at least five years ago).

Another major development under the amendment is the allocation of the bar council`s seats for newly merged districts into the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These seats will be included in the group of districts as specified under Sub-Section (2)(b) of Section 5 of the Act, ensuring theirrightfulrepresentation.

`Bar councils play a pivotal role in upholding constitutional supremacy, the rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary. Therefore, it is imperative to introduce a robust and transparent mechanism to ensure that only candidates with the requisite expertise and experience hold office in these prestigious bodies, the press release said. Other constitutional amendment bills on the agenda were deferred.

The meeting was attended by Senators Syed Ali Zafar, Ahad Khan Cheema, Abdul Qadir, and Khalil Tahir.

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar, along with chairmen of various bar councils and other key legal stakeholders also attended the meeting.