Islamabad:
A constitutional bench (CB) of the Supreme Court noted on Tuesday that it had received answers from all the respondents in a case linked to the transfer of judges to the High Court of Islamabad (CIH) while exhorting the Council for the petitioners not to take too much time to submit its response.
The CB of five members led by judge Muhammad Ali Mazhar heard a series of petitions deposited against the transfer of three judges of three different provincial high lessons to the IHC and the subsequent update of the list of anerties of the court judge.
The ministry of Law on February 1 published a notification for the transfer of judge Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, judge Khadim Hussain Soomro and judge Muhammad Asif – respectively from the High Court of Lahore, the High Court of Sindh and the High Court of Balochistan – at the IHC.
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, rejected these representations. After the elevation of Judge Farooq at the Supreme Court, judge Dogar was also raised as an acting chief of the IHC.
The judges of the IHC, the founder of the PTI, Imran Khan, and four associations of different bars were among the seven petitioners who challenged the ordinance of judge Aamer Farooq at the Supreme Court.
At the hearing on Tuesday, judge Mazhar told the lawyer for one of the petitioners – Muir a Malik – that the court had received the responses from the respondents. He asked Malik if he was going to present an answer to the answers.
Malik replied that he would submit a written answer. When the court asked him how long he needed his response, he asked for time until the following Thursday.
Judge Mazhar asked him why he needed so long. He said that many lawyers had to present their arguments.
