Judicial Commission nominates Justice Sarfraz Dogar as IHC chief justice

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday nominated Justice Sarfraz Dogar as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) chief justice after majority decision, marking an end to the months-long speculations and controversy.

At the same time, the meeting, chaired by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, also nominated the permanent chief justices of three other high courts.

In this connection, it was decided that Justice Rozi Khan would be the Balochistan High Court chief justice, while Justice SM Attique Shah is going to manage the affairs at the Peshawar High Court.

As far as Sindh is concerned, the meeting approved the name of Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar as the Sindh High Court chief justice.

For each of the high courts, the Judicial Commission considered the names of three senior-most judges for their elevation to the top posts.

According to sources, the decision in favour of Justice Dogar came with 9-6 majority, as one of the members Justice Jamal Khan abstained.

On the other hand, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Muneeb Akhtar were in favour of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.

However, two Judicial Commission members, both from the PTI, voted for Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

Later, the Judicial Commission informed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about the latest decisions through a letter, asking him complete the appointment process according to the Article 175 (A) 8.

The IHC has been in the news in the recent months after the transfer of Justice Dogar to the said high court, as other judges expressed their reservations over the move, as it also entailed the issue of seniority.

SENIORITY NOTIFIED

Earlier on Sunday, President Asif Ali Zardari notified Justice Dogar, who is already serving as the IHC acting chief justice.

On Friday last week, the Ministry of Law and Justice had issued a notification to determine the seniority of IHC judges, as ordered by a five-member Supreme Court bench on June 19.

The list showed Justice Dogar as the senior-most judge followed by Justice Kayani, Justice Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir.

On June 19, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench declared that the transfer of three judges to the IHC was not unconstitutional.

The judge was passed by a five-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, which heard the petitions filed by the five IHC judges and some representative bodies of lawyers.

THE CONTROVERSY

It was the government decision in February to transfer Justice Dogar from the Lahore High Court, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro from the Sindh High Court (SHC) and Justice Muham­mad Asif from the Balochistan High Court (BHC) to the IHC, which the five IHC judges considered controversial.

The reason was that the transfer of these judges was also followed by the changes in the judges’ seniority list after as Justice Dogar was made the senior puisne judge. As a result, he was appointed as the acting IHC chief justice after Justice Aamer Farooq’s elevation to the country’s top court.

Later, the five aggrieved IHC judges challenged these developments in the Supreme Court.