2 weeks Ago By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari approved the transfer of three judges including a Lahore High Court (LHC) judge to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) a day after a letter written by five IHC judges court expressed concern about the proposed move. A notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Saturday said that President Zardari approved the transfers of LHC’s Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and the Balochistan High Court’s Justice Muhammad Asif to the IHC under clause (1) of Article 200 of the Constitution. Article 200 of the Constitution says: “The president may transfer a judge of a high court from one high court to another high court, but no judge shall be so transferred except with his consent and after consultation by the president with the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) and the chief justice of both the high courts.
” Punjab CM inaugurates solarisation of tube wells The development comes a day after five of the 10 IHC judges formally opposed Justice Dogar’s transfer, warning that his elevation as the IHC chief justice would violate constitutional procedures and judicial norms. Five judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday wrote a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan and Chief Justices of three high courts including Islamabad, Lahore and Sindh against the transfer of any judge and appointment of IHC CJ from these courts. The IHC judges who wrote the letter include Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri , Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
A copy of the letter was also sent to President Asif Ali Zardar. Reportedly, while the names of Justice Miangul Aurangzeb and Justice Arbab Tahir were also included in the letter, it did not bear their signatures. They requested to all the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of three high courts that in their consultation with the President, under Article 200 of the Constitution, it be categorically presented that such a permanent transfer of a judge to the Islamabad High Court would be against the spirit of the Constitution, detrimental for the independence of judiciary, usurpation of established judicial norms, and also wholly unjustifiable.
“It would set a pernicious precedent whose ramifications are going to be extremely far-reaching,” said the judges. We will definitely hunt you down, Army Chief warns frenemies The judges stated that they, the undersigned justices of the Islamabad High Court are writing to you, in view of widely reported news by the media that has since been addressed by multiple bar associations as well, that a justice from the Lahore High Court is to be transferred to the IHC and this transferred judge would then be considered for appointment as the IHC Chief Justice. They added that there have also been reports that a proposal to transfer another judge from Sindh High Court to Islamabad High Court may also be under consideration.
On the other hand, President Islamabad High Court Bar Association Riasat Ali Azad and President Islamabad Bar Association Naeem Ali Gujjar issued a joint statement on behalf of both the bars in which the authorities have been warned that no judge other than the judges of the IHC should be appointed chief justice of the high court. They also hinted at a nationwide protest call if the demands of the lawyers were not met. Chaos in Kurram after deadly gun attacks Meawhile, the meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan held in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Saturday for considering the nomination for appointment of Additional Judges in Peshawar High Court (PHC).
According to a press release issued by Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Commission recommended for appointment as Additional Judges in the Peshawar High Court Muhammad Tariq Afridi, Advocate Supreme Court, Abdul Fayaz, Advocate Supreme Court, Farah Jamshed, District and Sessions Judge, Inam Ullah Khan, District and Sessions Judge, Sabit Ullah Khan, Advocate Supreme Court, Salah ud Din, Advocate, Sadiq Ali, Advocate Supreme Court, Syed Mudasser Ameer, Advocate Supreme Court, Aurangzeb, Advocate and Qazi Jawad Ehsanullah, Advocate Supreme Court. The Commission unanimously decided that nominees who did not secure the required majority of the total membership of the Commission for finalization of their nominations this time may be re-nominated for future vacancies. 18 soldiers martyred, 23 terrorists killed in Balochistan gun battle The Chairperson also appreciated the services rendered by the staff of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) for assisting the members in using the web portal for the proceeding of the meeting.
Tags: president okays transfer judges.
