Justice Babar Sattar writes to IHC CJ, demands withdrawal of seniority list

ISLAMABAD: Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court wrote a 6-page letter to IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq on the issue of three transferred judges to the high court.

In the letter, Justice Babar Sattar also termed Chief Justice Aamer Farooq’s change in the High Court Administration Committee as illegal and demanded the withdrawal of the seniority list and the notification of the administration committee.

Justice Babar Sattar has also written a letter to the chief justice, expressing his reservations over the change in the seniority list of three judges of the Islamabad High Court after their transfers from other high courts.

He wrote the letter on February 4 and then went on a two-day leave. This letter came to light while he was on leave. The cause list of his cases was also cancelled this week.

Justice Babar Sattar, in his letter, termed CJ Aamer Farooq’s change in the High Court Administration Committee as illegal and demanded the withdrawal of the seniority list and the notification of the administration committee. He also mentioned the filing of representations by other judges against the seniority list.

The letter states that issuing the notification of the seniority list and administration committee is unconstitutional and illegal. After the transfer, it is illegal to keep the transferred judges in the committee without taking the oath of the judge of the Islamabad High Court. He said that it is not written anywhere in the transfer notification whether the transfer is temporary or permanent.

Under Article 194 of the Constitution, he said that our esteemed fellow judges have taken the oath of their respective high courts. In the oath, the three judges have said that they will discharge their duties as judges in their respective high courts. After the transfer to the Islamabad High Court, the three judges did not take the oath, which was necessary, he said.

The letter further states that without the oath, the transferred judges could not start their duties in the IHC and they cannot be called a judge of the Islamabad High Court in terms of judicial and administrative work without the oath.

He stated that under supervision of the CJ, the three judges have started judicial work without the oath since the February 3 in violation of Article 194 of the Constitution.

Justice Babar Sattar wrote in the letter to the CJ that under Article 194 of the Constitution, it was his responsibility as the CJ to administer the oath to the three judges. Taking judicial and administrative work from the judges without the oath can cause embarrassment for them later.

The notification of the Islamabad High Court Administration Committee is a violation of the Islamabad Judicial Service Rules 2011.

He further stated that according to the Islamabad Judicial Service Rules, the administration committee will consist of the chief justice and two judges, and in this regard, the 9th judge, Justice Khadim Soomro, could not be included in the committee.

He said that the administration committee was reconstituted in a reckless manner as two judges from Sindh and Lahore High Courts were included in the administration committee who do not have any administrative experience in the Islamabad High Court yet.

He said that three days ago, their transfer notification was issued and they were included in the committee. He said that we the judges are observe almost daily on the judicial side that the executive can exercise its authority in a transparent manner according to the law, and the CJ will agree that the judges are also bound to exercise discretionary powers as much as we say the executive.