Justice Dogar becomes acting IHC CJ after HCs' jurists elevated to SC

ISLAMABAD: Following the elevation of the high courts judges to the Supreme Court, Justice Sarfraz Dogar was late Wednesday appointed as the acting chief justice of the Islamabad High Court. 

A notification issued by the law ministry late Wednesday said President Asif Ali Zardari appointed Justice Dogar under Article 196 of the Constitution “with effect from the date of he makes oath of his office, till appointment of regular Chief Justice”.

The development came two days after the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved on Monday the appointment of six new judges to the Supreme Court amid a boycott by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers and two senior SC judges.

According to a press release issued by the JCP, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to consider the nominations for appointment of high court judges in the SC and, by a majority of its total membership, nominated six judges.

The chief justices of all high courts, except the Lahore High Court (LHC) were among the six judges nominated. These included Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Aamer Farooq.

The Commission, also by majority of its total membership, nominated IHC's Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb for appointment as the Acting Judge of the Supreme Court.

Earlier, three judges — from Sindh, Balochistan, and Lahore — were transferred to the IHC, drawing severe criticism from the legal fraternity, including the IHC judges.

Then IHJ CJ Justice Farooq made various changes at administrative level after the addition of three new judges. He had appointed Justice Dogar as the administrative judge for the anti-terrorism courts and the accountability courts. Previously, Justice Kayani was the administrative judge of these courts.

The five justices, contesting the seniority criteria, were of the view that the judges transferred from other high courts should take oath anew to reset their seniority.

Nevertheless, their representation was rejected by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, saying the new oath was not required as their seniority was calculated from the time they took oath in their respective high court and not from the date of their transfer.