President Asif Ali Zardari has named Justice Sarfraz Dogar as the senior-most judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), following a determination of judicial seniority.
The announcement, made through an official notification on Sunday, also confirmed the permanent transfer of three judges from other high courts to the IHC.
Five IHC judges challenge SC ruling
Earlier, five judges of the IHC challenged the Supreme Court’s order endorsing the transfer of three judges to the IHC. They also requested the apex court to restrain the three transferred judges — including Acting Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar — from performing any judicial or administrative functions as IHC judges.
The judges, including Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, have filed an intra-court appeal (ICA) against the order through counsels Muneer A Malik and Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed advocate in the apex court.
On June 19, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench announced its verdict, declaring that their transfers were not unconstitutional.
The decision also referred the matter of judicial seniority to the president of Pakistan.
In February, Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court (LHC), Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro from the Sindh High Court (SHC) and Justice Muhammad Asif from the Balochistan High Court (BHC) were transferred to the IHC.
The controversy revolves around changes made to the judges’ seniority list following these transfers, with Justice Dogar being designated as the senior puisne judge. This move cleared the path for his appointment as acting chief justice of the IHC after Justice Aamer Farooq was elevated to the Supreme Court.
In their ICA, the five judges also requested the top court to restrict three transfer judges, including Justice Sarfraz Dogar, from performing any judicial and administrative functions as IHC judges.
In their petition, the judges have sought an immediate suspension of Supreme Court’s June 19 decision until their ICA is heard.
Moreover, they moved the top court to impose a stay order on the determination of seniority of judges transferred to the IHC, barring the president of Pakistan from making any decision in this regard.
