Three judges from provincial high courts transferred to IHC
Pakistan
The development followed the letter penned by IHC judges in which they raised alarm bells
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - In an important development on Saturday, one judge each from the Lahore High Court, Sindh High Court, and Balochistan High Court has been transferred to the Islamabad High Court.
An official notification has also been issued in this regard.
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As per the notification, Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar of the LHC, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro of the SHC and Justice Muhammad Asif of the BHC were transferred.
It merits mention that the judges of IHC on Friday penned a letter to the chief justices (CJ) of the Supreme Court and high courts in which they expressed concerns over the appointment of a transferred judge to the IHC's top slot.
They urged them to take a stand and resist such a development.
According to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) new rules which came into effect last year, the seniority criterion was not followed to appoint the top-most judge. The JCP proposed that the chief justice of a high court could be appointed from among the panel of five senior-most judges.
The letter was signed by IHC’s senior puisne judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justices Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Saman Rafat Imtiaz. The names of Justices Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb were also in the letter but didn’t bear their signatures.
Dunya News reported earlier that the decision of this transfer had been made in a high-level meeting which was held in Islamabad. It was attended by senior judicial officials and government ministers.
Judicial sources confirmed that consultations with the Lahore High Court chief justice had been completed, while correspondence with the Sindh and Balochistan high courts regarding the transfers was in final stages.
It has been reported that Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court would be transferred to the Islamabad High Court, where he would serve as a senior judge.
Following the expected elevation of Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq to the Supreme Court, Justice Dogar is likely to be appointed as the next Chief Justice.
