LAHORE - Punjab Bar Council building gutted Tuesday when fire erupted in the basement of three-storey building near the Lahore High Court. A car completely destroyed in the fire while dozens of other motorcycles and record remained safe. The fire erupted after a bar employee Jabran Khalil ignited his vehicle but the sparking in the battery caused blaze. The bar employees tried to extinguish the fire by throwing water and sand on it, but it did not work and the fire started to spread because no proper fire extinguishing equipments were available at the PbBC. Soon the basement was filled with smoke and an employee fainted due to suffocation. He was immediately shifted to nearby hospital where he was pronounced stable. Meanwhile Rescue 1122 reached there and its staff launched rescue operation. Their efforts were badly halted by the smoke and darkness in the basement. They, however, succeeded to extinguish fire after efforts of an hour. Four bar employees who were trapped at the third story of the building were also rescued safe and sound. The PbBC issues practice license to lawyers in Punjab and holds a massive record of them. Notice issued to Hamid Chattha An election tribunal comprising Justice M Bilal Khan of the Lahore High Court issued notice to Hamid Nasir Chattha, a PML-Q returned candidate from PP-103 Gujranawala, and other defeated candidates of the same constituency for July 1 on an election petition seeking his disqualification. The election petition has been filed by Shaukat Hayat Chatta. He argued that free and fair election was not held in the constituency because Nasir Chattha's son Fiaz Chattha is district nazim who used state machinery to secure a victory for his father. The petitioner alleged that respondent candidate rigged elections and got rejected hundreds of his valid votes. He requested the tribunal that Nasir Chattha might be disqualified and he be declared as returned candidate.