- The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench releases a 55-page order.
- SC rejects the IHC judges’ pleas against presidential authority.
- Constitution Bench issued a short order on June 19th.
The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench on Thursday issued its detailed judgment in a case relating to seniority and transfer of Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges, giving up the president’s powers to transfer the Supreme Court’s judges are independent but subject to certain conditions.
The Supreme Court’s major constitutional bench was led by justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and included Justice’s Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Shakeel Ahmad.
“It is clearly articulated in accordance with Article 200 of the Constitution that the president’s powers for the transfer of a judge by the Supreme Court from one Supreme Court to another Supreme Court are an independent article in its application, but with some security measures and protection measures, and these powers do not depend on any other article in the Constitution,” the 3-2 judgment read.
In February of this year, five judges in IHC had moved the Pointed Court in accordance with Article 184 (2) of the Constitution.
The placement was filed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Riffat Imtiaz.
The IHC judges had called on the right to declare that the president has not unbounded and uninhibited to transfer judges from one Supreme Court to another, in accordance with Article 200 (2).
Their petition also asked the Pointing Court to declare that in accordance with the established law stated by the highest court in the event of Aslam Awan and Farukh Irfan, the Inter-Se-Seniority of Respondents No. 9-11 will be determined from the date they impose oath as justice of IHC and will consequently be lower in the senior list.
The supreme court had taken up the case on April 17. In his 3-2 majority judgment on June 19, the pointed court disposed of the several petitions with Justice Mazhar, Justice Hassan and Justice Panhwar, who submitted to devote the pleas.
However, Justice Afghan and Justice Ahmad allowed the petitions and set aside the notification of the judges’ transfer.
In his 55-page detailed judgment, which was handed down today, the constitutional bench declared that the president can transfer the judges of the high court, but no judge must be transferred with their consent and after consultation by the president with Chief Justice of Pakistan and the chief’s judge in both high courts.
The exercise of the transfer of powers from the president under Article 200 of the Constitution is not unregulated or unbound, read the verdict.
By rejecting the petition, the constitutional bench declared that the president’s powers for the transfer of the Supreme Court’s judges and the provisions under Article 175a of the Constitution to appoint Judges to the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court by the Legal Commission in Pakistan are two different provisions relating to different situations and niceties.
The transfer of a judge of the president under Article 200 cannot be interpreted as a new appointment, read the verdict.
