Flurry of changes at IHC after new judges’ arrival – Pakistan

• Justice Kayani, Justice Aurangzeb removed from departmental promotion, administrative committees
• Justice Dogar formally notified as senior puisne judge after CJ Aamer Farooq’s approval
• Some lawyers go on strike to register their protest; law officers greet new judges with bouquets in courtrooms

ISLAMABAD: Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, who was senior puisne jud­ge at the Islamabad High Court before Justice Sarf­a­raz Dogar’s transfer, has been removed from the top decision-making committee days after five judges opposed the latter’s transfer to the capital.

According to a notification on Monday, the 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 CJ 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 Islamabad High Court.

The updated seniority list is as follows: 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 Feb 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 Jan 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 JCP Appoint­ment Rules 2024, which mandate that the CJ of a high court must be appointed from among the three senior-most judges of that court.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2025