Islamabad High Court Bar also challenges judges' seniority list in SC
Pakistan
Petition argues that judges cannot be transferred from one HC to another without public interest
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Islamabad High Court Bar Association has challenged the judges' seniority list of the Islamabad High Court in the Supreme Court.
Islamabad High Court Bar Association President Riyasat Ali Azad filed a petition in the Supreme Court under Article 184(3).
The petition argues that judges cannot be transferred from one high court to another without public interest. It further requested the Supreme Court to rule that the president does not have unlimited powers under Article 200(1) to transfer judges.
A legal battle over the seniority of judges erupted in the Islamabad High Court, as five judges moved the Supreme Court against the seniority list.
The petition was filed by Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, and Saman Rafat Imtiaz, challenging the seniority.
Spanning 49 pages, the petition had been submitted under Article 184(3) through senior legal counsel Munir A. Malik and Barrister Salahuddin.
The petition urges the Supreme Court to declare that the president does not hold unlimited authority under Article 200(1) to transfer judges between high courts without justifiable public interest. It asserts that such transfers should not be executed arbitrarily.
Further, the petition calls for suspending three transferred judges from their duties and requests that Justice Sarfraz Dogar be restrained from serving as the acting chief justice.
Earlier, the five judges had engaged the legal expertise of Munir A. Malik and Barrister Salahuddin to challenge the seniority decision.
It is pertinent to mention that former IHC CJ Aamer Farooq had previously dismissed the seniority representation of these five judges.
Their petition was initially filed in opposition to the decision that placed Justice Sarfraz Dogar as the senior puisne judge.
