Justice Sarfraz Dogar appointed acting IHC Chief Justice

Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar has been appointed acting chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), a move that has sparked reservations among some judges over seniority.

A notification issued by the Ministry of Law late Wednesday announced that President Asif Ali Zardari has appointed Justice Sarfraz Dogar as the acting chief justice of the Islamabad High Court.

The appointment, made under Article 196 of the Constitution, will take effect from the date Justice Dogar takes the oath of office and remain in place until a regular Chief Justice is appointed.

The appointment follows Justice Aamer Farooq’s elevation to the Supreme Court (SC) earlier this week.

Justice Dogar, previously transferred from the Lahore High Court (LHC), will serve until a permanent chief justice is appointed.

Alongside Justice Dogar, acting chief justices for other high courts were also appointed, including Justice Ejaz Swati (Balochistan High Court), Justice Junaid Ghaffar (Sindh High Court), and Justice S.M. Attique Shah (Peshawar High Court).

The president also approved the elevation of seven judges to the Supreme Court, including Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Shakeel Ahmad, and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

Justice Aurangzeb will serve temporarily under Article 181 to address pending tax and commercial cases.

Justice Farooq dismissed a representation from five IHC judges challenging Justice Dogar’s transfer and its impact on seniority.

The decision was opposed by Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, and Saman Rafat.

Earlier, the judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided to challenge the rejection of their representation.

A petition against the decision is expected to be filed in the Supreme Court in the coming days.

According to sources, the representation seeks the restoration of the previous seniority structure of the IHC. Additionally, the petition will request the annulment of the decision issued by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who had dismissed the representation.

Chief Justice Aamer Farooq had previously upheld the placement of three transferred judges to the IHC from three other high courts, affirming their rankings at the second, ninth and 12th positions in the seniority list.

The new seniority list was challenged by five IHC judges.

The chief justice ruled that the transferred judges did not require a fresh oath and that their seniority would be counted from the date of their first oath in the high court. Accordingly, the new seniority list of IHC judges will remain unchanged.