Five judges from the High Court of Islamabad (IHC) filed a request before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, contesting judicial transfers and their impact on seniority.
The constitutional request of 49 pages, filed under article 184, paragraph 3, through the main lawyers MUNNIER A. MALIK and the lawyer Salahuddin, maintains that the president of Pakistan abused article 200 , paragraph 1, going beyond the authority of the judicial committee by transferring the judges.
The petition maintains that legal transfers cannot be carried out without public interest and should not affect the seniority list.
It also indicates that article 200 only authorizes temporary transfers and that the current process violates article 175 (a) of the Constitution.
The judges urged the Supreme Court to invalidate the current list of the seniority of the High Court of Islamabad, citing its inconsistency with article 194 and the third appendix of the Constitution.
The petition specifically disputes the appointment of judge Sarfraz Dogar as an acting chief of the IHC, declaring that he had only served two weeks before the High Court before assuming administrative control.
He also calls judges Khalid Soomro and Muhammad Asif to be excluded from legal work.
The President of Pakistan, the Federal Government, the Judicial Commission, the Registrar of the Supreme Court and several high court regists were responded in this case.
The five petition judges are judge Mohin Akhtar Kayani, judge Babar Sattar, judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, judge Saman Rafat Imtiaz and judge Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan.
The petition also claims that the failure of the judges transferred to take an oath is a constitutional violation.
He claims that seniority begins before the High Court where a judge first takes the oath, and modifying it by transfers is an unconstitutional interference in the administration of the IHC.
The Supreme Court has not yet planned an audience on the issue.
Last week, judge Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogarwas appointed the acting chief judge of the IHC, a decision that sparked reservations among certain judges about seniority.
A notification issued by the Ministry of Law announced that President Asif Ali Zardari had appointed judge Sarfraz Dogar as an acting chief of the IHC.
The appointment, made under article 196 of the Constitution, will take effect on the date of the date on which the judgar judge takes the oath and will remain in place until a regular chief judge is appointed.
The appointment followed the elevation of judge Aamer Farooq at the Supreme Court (SC) earlier this week.