Days after five judges of the Islamabad High Court opposed transfer of Justice Sarfaraz Dogar from Lahore High Court on Monday Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Capital’ High Court – a senior pusine judge – name has been delisted from the top decision making committee.
According to a notification on Monday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) administration reconstituted the Administrative Committee and Departmental Promotion Committee. Chief Justice Aamer Farooq remains the chairman, with Justice Sarfraz Sarfaraz Dogar and Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro inducted as members. Previously, Justice Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb were part of this committee.
Furthermore, the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) has also been modified; it now comprises Justice Sarfaraz Dogar and Justice Azam Khan. Earlier, the DPC comprised Justice Kayani and Justice Aurangzeb. The changes were formalised through a notification issued by Additional Registrar Ijaz Ahmed following the approval of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
The IHC administration also formally notified Justice Dogar as the senior puisne judge of the Islamabad High Court. The administration also revised its seniority list and the changes were implemented after receiving approval from Chief Justice Aamir Farooq, with separate notifications issued by the registrar’s office.
According to the official notification, Justice Sarfaraz Dogar has now been designated as the senior puisne judge of the IHC. Dawn reported the updated seniority list : Justice Sarfaraz Dogar, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Saman Riffat Imtiaz, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, Justice Mohammad Asif and Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas.
On February 1, the president issued the notification for the transfer of justices Dogar, Soomro and Asif to the Islamabad High Court from the Lahore High Court, Sindh High Court, and Balochistan High Court, respectively.
Some lawyers bodies of Islamabad opposed the transfer and went on strike on Monday to protest the transfer. However, lawyers from other factions who pursued their cases, law officers from the attorney general’s office as well as prosecutors welcomed the new judges and presented bouquets to them.
On January 31, five IHC judges had opposed the transfer of Justice Dogar in a letter sent to the CJP, chief justices of the IHC, LHC, and SHC that a judge from another court was being transferred for his onward elevation as the IHC chief justice.
The incumbent IHC CJ, Aamer Farooq, is the most senior Chief Justice and is likely to be elevated to the Supreme Court. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan will meet on Feb 10 to consider high court judges for eight vacancies in the apex court.
The letter was signed by justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, and Saman Rafat Imtiaz. Interestingly, while the names of justices Miangul Aurangzeb and Arbab Tahir were also included in the letter, it did not bear their signatures.
The letter said since the 18th Amendment, no permanent high court transfers had taken place, reinforcing the autonomy of each high court.
A central concern raised by the IHC justices was that a transferred judge would be required to take a fresh oath under Article 194, which would place them at the bottom of the IHC seniority list.
This would render them ineligible for immediate consideration for the position of Chief Justice, contradicting the Judicial Commission of Pakistan Appointment Rules 2024, which mandate that the Chief Justice of a high court must be appointed from among the three senior-most judges of that court.
