5 IHC judges approach SC against seniority

Islamabad: A legal battle has started in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) over the issue of judges’ seniority. Five judges have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against seniority.

A representation petition has been filed against seniority by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan, and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz of the IHC.

The 49-page petition was filed under Clause III of Article 184 by Munir A. Malik and Barrister Salahuddin.

The petition requested that the Supreme Court declare that the President does not have unlimited powers to transfer judges under Clause I of Article 200, and judges cannot be transferred from one High Court to another without public interest.

The petition filed requested that the three transferred judges be stopped from working and that Justice Sarfaraz Dogar should also be stopped from working as the acting Chief Justice.

Earlier, five judges of the High Court had used the services of senior lawyers Munir A. Malik and Barrister Salahuddin on the issue of judges' seniority.

It is pertinent to note that former Chief Justice of the IHC Aamer Farooq had rejected the seniority representation of five judges who had filed a representation against the appointment of Justice Sarfaraz Dogar as a senior judge in seniority.