FCC dismisses judges’ intra-court appeal in transfer case

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FFC) has dismissed an appeal filed by five Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges challenging the decision to fix their intra-court appeal in the judges’ transfer case before the FFC.

IHC judges Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz had filed intra-court appeals against the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling that had sent their case to the FCC.

When a six-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin took up the the case, no lawyer appeared on behalf of the judges during the proceeding.

Except for the Lahore High Court Bar and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, appeals filed by all other petitioners were dismissed.

It may be recalled that the intra-court appeal of the five IHC judges in the judges’ transfer case had been fixed for hearing before the FCC, which the petitioning judges had challenged.

The five judges had filed miscellaneous petitions in the FCC, challenging the transfer of their intra-court appeal from the Supreme Court to the constitutional court.

The case relates to the transfer of three judges from other high courts to the federal capital.

In June, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the transfers were not unconstitutional. The five IHC judges later challenged that verdict by filing an intra-court appeal.

However, the appeal was then fixed for hearing at the FCC, which was established under the 27th Constitutional Amendment.

In their miscellaneous applications, the IHC judges had requested the FCC Court to send the appeal back to the Supreme Court, arguing that the matter constitutionally falls within the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction.

The apeal further stated that although the appeal had been transferred under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, the petitioners contend that the amendment itself is inconsistent with the Constitution.