- SC judges urge CJP to postpone new appointments to apex court.
- Say matter should be paused till decision on Constitutional tweaks.
- Senior puisne judge Justice Shah among authors of letter to CJP.
In a major development, four Supreme Court (SC) judges, including senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, on Friday requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to postpone new appointments at the apex court until adjudication of challenges to the Constitution (26th Amendment) Act, 2024.
In a letter to the CJP, the top court judges requested: “The scheduled meeting and the appointment of the eight new Judges to the SC by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) be postponed till the challenge to the 26th Constitutional Amendment is decided one way or the other.”
Besides Justice Shah, the letter was written by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Athar Minallah.
Last month, the JCP rescheduled its meeting to Feb 10 from Feb 11 to consider filling eight vacant posts of judges at the top court. The meeting, set for Feb 10 at 2pm, will also consider the elevation of chief justices of all the high courts to the apex court. However, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCA) and others moved the top court seeking postponement of the JCP’s meeting.
The apex court judges, in today’s letter, stated that the meeting should be postponed “at least until the constitutional bench decides the applications for convening a full court to hear and determine that challenge and till the matter of the transfer of judges to the IHC and their seniority is finally determined on the judicial side (since we are given to understand that such challenges have been launched)”.
Earlier this month, President Asif Ali Zardari approved the transfer of one judge each from the Lahore, Sindh, and Balochistan High Courts to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) amid speculations that the capital court’s next chief justice would be a “transferred judge.”
Terming the fresh postings of judges in the IHC “malicious” and an “attack” on the independence of the judiciary, three representative bar councils of the federal capital — the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC), Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA), and Islamabad District Bar Association (IDBA) —unanimously observed a strike and boycotted the proceedings of the high and district courts on February 3.
On February 4, five judges of the capital sent a representation to the IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and CJP Afridi against placing them down on the seniority list. They were of the view that seniority should be determined from the date of the new oath. The fresh transfers to the IHC have changed the seniority list, creating unrest among the judges.
Justice Sattar expresses concerns over IHC seniority list
In a separate six-page letter to IHC CJ Aamer Farooq, Justice Babar Sattar expressed concerns over changes in the seniority list following the transfer of three judges to the federal high court. He termed the reconstitution of the administration committee of the IHC “illegal”.
“Notification dated Feb 3, 2025, has reconstituted the administration committee of the IHC to include justices Dogar and Soomro. This notification is also contrary to the requirements of Islamabad Judicial Service Rules, 2011.”
Justice Sattar pleaded with the IHC CJ to withdraw notifications regarding the judges’ seniority list and reconstitution of the administration committee.
According to the new seniority list of the IHC judges, Justice Sarfaraz Dogar has become senior puisne judge while Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani has moved to second place on the list.
Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb is third, Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri is fourth, Justice Babar Sattar is fifth, and Justice Sardar Ishaq Khan is sixth in the seniority list.
Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir is in seventh place, Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz is in eighth place, while Justice Khadim Hussain is in ninth place and Justice Azam Khan will be in 10 place, Justice Asif is in 11th place and Justice Inam Amin Minhas is in 12 place.
