Pakistan: Imran Khan moves Supreme Court against transfer of judges

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the recent transfer to judges calling it unconstitutional and unlawful The Express Tribune reportedThe petition submitted under Article 184 3 of the Constitution argues that the transfer notification breaches the independence of the judiciary Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI founder Imran Khan has urged the court to declare the notification null and voidThe federal government and the registrars of the high courts in Lahore Sindh Balochistan and Islamabad have been mentioned as respondents in the case The Express Tribune reportedThrough the petition Imran Khan has requested a directive from the Supreme Court to ensure compliance with legal precedents including the landmark AlJehad Trust case which set guidelines for judicial appointments and transfersThe petition emphasised that judicial transfers must follow constitutional principles and must not be influenced by external pressures It also requested a strict observance of judicial autonomy The Express Tribune reportedThe challenge comes amid rising tensions between PTI and the government with the judiciary often at the centre of political controversies According to legal experts the case could test the Supreme Courts view on judicial independenceImran Khans legal team stated that the decision could affect fair trials and judicial neutrality urging the apex court to intervene immediately In February the judges of the Islamabad High Court IHC decided to challenge the rejection of their representationIn the representation the IHC judges requested the restoration of the IHCs previous seniority structure They also requested the annulment of the decision issued by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq who had dismissed the representationPreviously Chief Justice Aamer Farooq had upheld the placement of three transferred judges to the Islamabad High Court from three other high courts keeping their rankings at the second ninth and 12th positions in the seniority list The five IHC judges challenged the new seniority listThe chief justice said that the transferred judges need not take a fresh oath and that their seniority would be counted from the date of their first oath in the high court Accordingly the IHC judges seniority list will remain unchangedOn February 1 the strength of the judges at the IHC rose with the transfer of Justice Sarfaraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court LHC Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro from the Sindh High Court and Justice Muhammad Asif from the Balochistan High CourtOn February 4 a revised seniority list was issued which named Justice Sarfaraz Dogar as the senior puisne judge followed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani as the second seniormost judge and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb in the third positionJustice Tariq Jahangiri was in fourth place Justice Babar Sattar fifth Justice Sardar Ishaq Khan sixth Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir seventh Justice Suman Riffat Imtiaz eighth Justice Soomro ninth Justice Azam Khan 10th Justice Muhammad Asif 11th and Justice Inam Amin Minhas 12th as per the reportAfter the seniority list Justice Kayani Justice Jahangiri Justice Sattar Justice Khan and Justice Imtiaz submitted a representation to the chief justice requesting that he not consider Justice Dogar an IHC judge until he took the oath as required under Article 194 of the ConstitutionThe five judges said Justice Dogar had been sworn in as an LHC judge However he is already mentioned as an IHC Judge in the IHCs seniority list They requested that the chief justice resolve the matter before the JCP meetingThe IHC chief justice rejected the representation and directed the IHC registrars office to tell all five judges about his decision on the representation according to sourcesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever