Islamabad:
Judge Babar Sattar of the High Court of Islamabad (IHC) noted that the chief judge of the IHC did not have the power to determine – of the administrative or otherwise – according to which a bench should hear a case or not.
“Once a case is tabled for a hearing before a single or division bench, it is a question of such a bench to determine whether circumstances occur so that the case is transferred to another bench, including for reasons for the challenge of a judge including the bench,” said the judge in a three -page order.
An IHC bench, including judge Sattar on March 14, determined that it would be in the interest of justice if another bench had heard a matter. The case of the case was however “inexplicably” returned to the bench file.
The file contained remarks recorded on the administrative side by the acting chief of the IHC, Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, that the case was to be heard by the same bench.
Commenting on the development, judge Sattar said that the return of the case to this bench “should be inadvertently made by the office of the registrar and / or the staff of the Office of the Honorable Acting Chief judge”.
He declared that the judge composed of a bench determines that he would not like to hear the case for stated reasons, the said judicial order is not lends to the interference by the office of the chief judge or the registrar, considering as an administration affair.
“The obligation to repair urgent and ordinary affairs before the available benches falls under the domain of the assistant registrar under the High Court rules adopted by the IHC.
“The responsibility of the chief judge is to approve the list of court benches prepared by the assistant registrar. But once such a list is prepared and approved, the chief judge has no role to play in the fixing of each case filed before the court.
“It is only where a bench seized of a case considers that a larger or larger bench is formed to hear the case that the case must be referred to the chief judge, while the rules of the high court have acquired the authority in its office to approve the list of benches,” he added.
Judge Sattar said that the current practice of referring the question of the desire for a bench to challenge itself to hear a case to the chief judge for the reallowing and the transfer of one court to another is not in accordance with the rules of the High Court.
“In the event of a recusation or when the need arises to transfer a case of the file of the bench seized, the question must be marked in the assistant registrar for the placement before another available bench, taking into account the list of session of the benches approved by the chief judge.
“That the file is therefore sent to the deputy (judicial) registrar of this court, who will make sure that it is fixed before another bench available according to the approved list of the benches session, which does not include any of the judges [of the existing bench that heard the matter]”, He added.
