Islamabad:
The fate of judge Sarfraz Dogar as the next chief judge of the High Court of Islamabad (IHC) is in balance after the chief judge of Pakistan Yahya Afridi approved Tuesday the opinion of four judges of the Supreme Court on IHC judges.
Dogar judge was one of the three judges transferred last week to the IHC of the provincial high lessons in Punjab, Sindh and Balutchistan. After this transfer, the IHC has published a new seniority list, classifying Judge Dogar as a senior judge.
Five IHC judges subsequently filed representations against Judge Dogar. However, the IHC chief judge, Aamer Farooq, whose elevation at SC has already been approved by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), rejected these performances on Monday.
The IHC judges had argued that once judgar judge was sworn in as the IHC judge, its seniority should be determined from the date on which the oath was administered to him. Consequently, judge judge would be lower in seniority than the judges who took an oath before him.
Four judges SC – Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Judge Munib Akhtar, Judge Ayesha Malik and Judge Athar Minallah – in their letter to CJ Afridi also approved the position taken by five CIHC judges.
Speaking on Tuesday at the history, CJ Afridi said that he mainly agreed with four SC judges on the seniority of the IHC judges. He said that the name of Dogar should not have appeared on the IHC judges list considered for the elevation of the SC.
The CJ said that he thought there was a judicial forum to decide on the question of the seniority of Judge IHC. Justice Shah and Judge Munib Akhtar are also the members of the JCP.
During the JCP meeting on February 10, two members – Jamal Khan Mandokhail and the member of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Akhtar Hussain, also raised concerns concerning the new seniority list of IHC judges . The two did not agree with the elevation proposal for judge Aamer Farooq at SC, sources said.
We learn that the members of the independent group are not satisfied with the position taken by the representative of the CBC, Akhtar Hussain, to the seniority of the judges of the CIH as well as to oppose the elevation of two judges of the high Lahore court for their integrity.
A JCP of 15 members led by CJ Afridi will decide on the next IHC chief in his next meeting. Eight votes will be necessary for the appointment. The government has so far has six votes.
Judge Amicin Khan supports each movement of the executive during the JCP meetings. Even if judge Khan approves the government candidate for the post of the next IHC chief judge, the executive will always need one more vote.
The representative of the Islamabad bar council in the JCP, Zulfiqar Abbasi, should not vote for the elevation of Judge Dogar as the next IHC chief judge, because the lawyers of the capital have already taken a position strong against his transfer.
A principal lawyer, however, said that the government had transferred Dogar judge to the IHC and would ensure its elevation at all costs as the next IHC chief judge. The government has resumed the IHC on the day it transferred three judges, he said.
“The judges, whose integrity is questionable, are rewarded while the vertical and independent judges are treated as criminals,” he added.
