The two-day election for the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the country’s top lawyers’ body, began this morning amid the exclusion of lawyers seen as aligned with the Awami League.

Voting for 14 executive posts started at 10:00am at the SCBA building and will continue until 5:00pm with a one-hour break for lunch and prayers, according to the association's Administrative Officer Md Rabiul Hassan.

A total of 11,097 lawyers are registered to vote in the annual election.

This year’s poll is taking place after a gap of more than two years and follows the disqualification of 42 candidates alleged to have links with the Awami League (AL).

On May 3, the SCBA election commission finalised a list of 40 candidates, most of whom are backed by the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP), after rejecting the nominations of the 42 lawyers.

Earlier, on April 27, the election commission -- headed by retired High Court judge Justice Md Miftah Uddin Choudhury -- scrapped their nomination papers, citing alleged political affiliations with the AL, whose activities are currently banned under the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Act 2025.

The last SCBA election, held in March 2024, was closely contested, with pro-BNP lawyers winning four key posts including the presidency, while AL-backed candidates secured 10 positions, including the secretaryship.

Following the 2024 July uprising that brought significant political changes, pro-Awami League lawyers stopped attending SCBA proceedings.

On August 18, 2024, a section of Supreme Court lawyers formed an interim SCBA executive committee, appointing pro-BNP lawyer AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon as president and Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal -- now attorney general -- as secretary for the 2024–25 term.

However, Kazal later declined to serve as secretary of the interim committee, citing prior experience in the role. Assistant Secretary Barrister Md Mahfuzur Rahman Milon was subsequently assigned the duties.