LARKANA, Feb 19: The Sindh Bar Council, entertaining objections of 121 members of the Larkana District Bar Association, announced postponement of district bar elections scheduled for Feb 21.

Shamsuddin Abbasi - candidate for the seat of general secretary - told Dawn that he himself, Inayat Morio, Zia Jalbani, Rafique Abro, Sarfraz Jatoi and other colleagues had moved the Sindh Bar Council against the proposed DBA Larkana elections scheduled for Feb 21.

He said that only election commissioner can issue schedule but sitting general secretary Abdul Hamid Bhurgri issued it instead.

He said that the filing of nomination papers by Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro and provincial Additional Advocate-General Abdul Hamid Bhurgari for posts of president and general secretary, respectively, was in contravention of the by-law of Sindh Bar Council.

Mr Abbasi said that the application of 121 lawyers came up for hearing in a meeting of the executive committee of Sindh Bar Council held on Feb 18 in Nawabshah.

The participants observed that a tight schedule was issued without giving ample time to applicants, he said.

Taking the application into consideration, it was revealed that crucial law points, including election schedule were raised. The SBC decided to place the application before its next meeting of the general body of SBC on March 28 in Sukkur.

Chiarman Executive Committee Sindh Bar Council Ali Mohammad Dahri and member Ghulam Mohammad Abbasi announced the postponement of elections till the decision to be taken after March 28.

It was learnt that the election commissioner on receiving the SBC letter postponed the scheduled elections.

VISIT: The American Consulate General in Karachi Ms Catherine Rodriguez visited Larkana on Thursday.

She discussed industrialisation, agriculture and employment opportunities with members Larkana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) during the meeting, said sources.