Tarar calls Safdar-Amjad Shah dispute personal

Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has said that a personal dispute exists between Captain (retd) Safdar and Amjad Shah, the presidential candidate of the Independent Group in the Supreme Court Bar Association elections, urging that the matter should not be turned into a political issue.

Speaking to the media, Tarar said the dispute was related to a property in Mansehra and had nothing to do with the broader affairs of the legal community.

The law minister said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Lawyers Forum had already announced its support for Amjad Shah in the upcoming bar elections. He said Captain (retd) Safdar was a respected individual but was neither a practicing lawyer nor a member of the bar.

“Bar elections and affairs should be left to the members of the legal community,” Tarar said. He added that people who were not members of a particular professional body should avoid unnecessarily commenting on its elections and internal matters.

Tarar also defended senior lawyer Ahsan Bhoon, saying he remained a respected figure among members of the legal fraternity. He said Bhoon’s group had won most elections during the past decade, losing only once or twice.

According to the law minister, Bhoon had maintained the confidence of a significant section of the lawyers’ community. He described criticism against Bhoon during the election period as a political tactic and said the bar’s institutional mechanisms were already well established.

Addressing questions about Bhoon’s academic credentials, Tarar recalled the 2020 bar election. He said Bhoon had appeared before the court at the time and supported the verification of degrees and credentials of candidates and bar council regulators.

Tarar said he was also a candidate in the 2020 election, along with Bhoon and Amjad Shah, and their educational credentials were subsequently verified. He said that, to his personal knowledge, there was nothing questionable regarding Bhoon’s degree.

The law minister once again stressed that Captain (retd) Safdar had no direct connection with the bar elections.

Asked about Bhoon’s reported support for remarks made by lawyer Mian Dawood regarding the Punjab chief minister, Tarar said people appearing on television and other media platforms should exercise restraint in their language.