Lawyers demand judges’ appointments to IHC from Islamabad bar

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad lawyers on Friday demanded that senior lawyers from the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) be appointed to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after the recent transfer of three judges.

Leaders of the IHCBA and the Islamabad District Bar Association made the demand during a joint press conference, where they criticised what they described as the increasing practice of appointing judges to IHC from outside the federal capital.

The press conference came days after the Judicial Commission of Pakistan approved the transfer of three IHC judges to provincial high courts.

Under the decision approved by the commission chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiani was transferred to the Lahore High Court, Justice Babar Sattar to the Peshawar High Court and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz to the Sindh High Court.

The commission also decided that vacancies arising from such transfers would be filled through further transfers rather than treated as fresh vacancies for new appointments.

Speaking at the press conference, Islamabad District Bar Association President Muhammad Naeem Gujjar said that lawyers believed judicial appointments to the IHC should primarily come from Islamabad-based lawyers.

“Our demand is that new appointments in the Islamabad High Court should be made from lawyers belonging to the Islamabad bar,” he said.

“The judges to be appointed in the IHC are the right of Islamabad’s lawyers. Appointments from outside should not be imposed on the Islamabad High Court,” he said.

Gujjar said that the bar associations were not opposed to judicial transfers in principle, but argued that the process should also apply to the district judiciary across provinces.

“We have consistently demanded rotation in the district judiciary as well,” he said, adding that district and sessions judges should not remain posted in one place for extended periods.

He said the lawyers wanted a broader judicial rotation mechanism under which judges from Islamabad’s district judiciary should also be transferred to other provinces.

IHCBA President Wajid Ali Gillani said that the Islamabad High Court should not be treated as a “federal high court” dominated by judges from outside the capital.

“The Islamabad High Court is not a federal high court. Anyone carrying that perception should remove it from their mind,” Gillani said.

He argued that the representation of all four provinces in the IHC had already been completed through previous appointments and transfers, and that the remaining vacancies should now go to lawyers from Islamabad.

Gillani referred to recent judicial moves, saying Punjab’s representation had been fulfilled before the transfer of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiani through the appointment of Justice Dogar, while Sindh’s seat had effectively been covered through the appointment of Justice Khadim Soomro before Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz’s transfer.

He also said Justice Babar Sattar’s transfer to the Peshawar High Court did not create a vacancy for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because another judge from the province had already been appointed earlier.

“Representation from all four provinces has already been completed,” Gillani said. “Now Islamabad’s share should not be given to anyone else.”

He said the bar had also urged the law minister to ensure that future appointments to vacant seats, including those of additional judges, were made from among Islamabad-based lawyers.

IHCBA Secretary Qasim Nawaz Abbasi said that the issue of rotation in the Islamabad district judiciary had been under discussion for a long time and added that lawyers from Islamabad remained underrepresented in the IHC bench despite the court having 13 judges.

“Our demand is that appointments to the IHC should be made from among members of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association,” he said.

He added that the Islamabad bar itself represented lawyers from across Pakistan and therefore reflected national diversity.

The controversy over judicial transfers has triggered wider debate within Pakistan’s legal community over judicial independence, transparency and constitutional procedure.

Earlier last week, the Lahore High Court Bar Association filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the transfer of the three IHC judges.

The petition, filed through senior lawyer Hamid Khan under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, argued that the transfers violated constitutional provisions and lacked transparency because no detailed reasons had been publicly provided.

The petition also challenged aspects of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, arguing that changes made to Articles 184(3) and 175(2) were unconstitutional.

The federal government and the Judicial Commission of Pakistan were named as respondents in the case.

Legal experts say the dispute reflects broader tensions within Pakistan’s judicial system over the balance between provincial representation, institutional autonomy and the powers of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan in matters relating to appointments and transfers.