Islamabad:
A new legal and administrative front has emerged at Islamabad High Court (IHC) during the appeal’s questions about civilian court decisions redirected to district courts when Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan raised serious questions about the process and considered the whole move “questionable”.
The case appeared during the hearing of cases previously awarded two additional judges who were recently sent back to district courts following an administrative decision.
During the case, additional registrar Ejaz Ahmed appeared in court and stated that the decision to award such appeals originated from a 2023 full hearing in which the question was discussed.
According to the extra Justice Secretary, he simply submitted a note to Chief Justice, which subsequently constituted a division bench that ordered the distribution of cases to district courts.
However, Justice Ejaz Ishaq observed that the court meeting was advisory in nature and not culminating with any final binding decision. He noted that any such redistribution of pending appeals could have only been approved by the full court, not by a division bench.
The judge also pointed out that no input or opinion from the judges who already heard the appeals had been sought, despite the fact that in some of these cases there were almost 80 percent complete.
With reference to the practical consequences of the decision, he noted that the return of the cases to the district courts would not only waste legal time, but also cause unnecessary difficulties for litigation.
