The election to Bangladesh Bar Council, a statutory regulatory body for the country's lawyers, will be held today to elect its 14 executive members.

The voting will be held from 10:00am to 5:00pm at the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in Dhaka and at all district civil courts as well as Bajitpur, Ishwarganj, Durgapur, Bhanga, Chikandi, Patia, Satkania, Fatikchhari, Sandwip, Hatia, Nabinagar and Paikgachha thanas.

Bar council sources said a total of 59 lawyers are contesting the election in which over 43,700 lawyers, registered with the council, will cast their votes.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, the ex-officio chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council, told The Daily Star yesterday that all preparations for the election have been completed.

Meanwhile, a HC bench yesterday fixed May 17 for passing an order on a writ petition filed, challenging the legality of the process for holding the Bangladesh Bar Council election.

The bench of Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir set the date for passing the order after concluding hearing on the petition.

On May 10, another HC bench cleared way for holding the election after dropping the same writ petition from hearing list.

Advocate Eunus Ali Akond, a Supreme Court lawyer, submitted the petition on March 14, challenging the legality of the election schedule announced by the council.

In the petition, Eunus also said there are anomalies in the list of the council's existing voters and some candidates are contesting the election under white and blue panels -- a violation of the constitution.