In wake of significant reshuffle in subordinate judiciary of Punjab on Tuesday Lahore High Court (LHC) notified name of Sheikh Khalid Bashir as Registrar of the high court in addition to transferring as many as 52 other District & Session Judges from one station to another.
Before his appointment as Registrar of the LHC Sheikh Khalid Bashir was delivering as District & Sessions Judge Faisalabad. Summary of his views on Faisalabad District judiciary website transpires, justice rooted in ethics, law, and fairness. It upholds universal rights while shunning discrimination based on persecution.
The LHC has transferred District and Sessions judges who were handling high-profile political cases from one district to another or directing them to report to the high court. As per a notification signed by LHC Registrar Irfan Ahmad Saeed, 53 district and sessions judges were transferred to different stations, while 22 were instructed to report to the LHC for further orders.
Among the judges asked to report to the court are Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar and Special Judge Central Bakht Fakhar Bahzad. Judge Buttar was presiding over cases involving several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers, related to their alleged involvement in an attack on Jinnah House, the residence of Lahore Corps Commander, following the arrest of the PTI Chairman Imran Khan on May 09.
Judge Bahzad, on the other hand, was adjudicating various political cases, including one filed against the PTI President Parvez Elahi and his family members for alleged money laundering. The judge had also acquitted former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and others in a Rs16 billion money laundering case. District and Sessions Judge Aslam Gondal, who had granted bail to Parvez Elahi in a suspicious transactions case, was also directed to report to the LHC for further orders.
The LHC appointed District and Sessions Judge Tanveer Akbar from Lahore as the LHC director-general of case management. Additionally, District and Sessions Judge Qaiser Nazir Butt from Kasur was designated as the district and sessions judge for Lahore. As per the notification, the LHC instructed these officers to assume their new positions by September 04.
