Five Islamabad High Court Judges Challenge Chief Justice’s Actions in Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD: In a rare judicial development, five judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) have filed petitions in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the administrative decisions of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq’s successor, Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar.

The group includes Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Ejaz Ishaq, and Justice Saman Riffat Imtiaz. All five judges appeared at the Supreme Court on Friday, completed biometric verification separately, and lodged individual petitions under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

Justice Jahangiri challenged the order restraining him from judicial work in connection with an alleged fake degree case, while the other four judges sought annulment of various administrative measures taken by Chief Justice Dogar.

Key arguments in the petitions:

A judge can only be stopped from performing judicial duties under Article 209, not through administrative orders.

The Chief Justice cannot curtail judicial powers of other judges, transfer pending cases to other benches, or remove available judges from the roster.

The “Master of Roster” doctrine has already been declared void by the Supreme Court.

Notifications issued by the IHC’s administrative committees on February 3 and July 15 should be struck down.

The IHC cannot issue writs against itself under Article 199.

Justice Jahangiri’s petition further argued that stopping him from work violated his constitutional right to a fair trial under Article 10-A. His appeal has been registered in the Supreme Court under diary number 23409.

The development follows the September 16 decision of the IHC that barred Justice Jahangiri from judicial duties, and his subsequent request on September 17 for access to audio and video recordings of the Chief Justice’s court proceedings.

This unprecedented move by sitting judges against their own Chief Justice is expected to trigger a significant constitutional debate on the limits of administrative authority within Pakistan’s judiciary.