ISLAMABAD:
Despite an outcry from Islamabad’s legal fraternity, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi has thrown his weight behind the transfer of three judges from different high courts, calling it a step in the right direction for judicial diversity.
Speaking to the media during the oath-taking ceremony of the Press Association of the Supreme Court (PAS), CJP Afridi described the transfers as an important step towards enhancing the diversity and federal representation of the judiciary.
He urged that the practice should be continued and celebrated rather than discouraged.
He said that the proposed transfer of three judges from the high courts of different federating units was completely in sync with the spirit of federalism and was also in conformity with Section 3 of the Islamabad High Court Act 2010.
He said that the transfers were thoughtfully designed to ensure equitable representation of the nation’s linguistic diversity. “You will have Balochi and Sindhi-speaking judges, and rejoice in it. Islamabad is a unifying place and this is the capital of Pakistan,” he added.
The chief justice also referred to Article 200 of the Constitution, which aligned with the approach.
CJP Afridi made a distinction between two issues at hand: the transfer of judges and the matter of their seniority.
He urged the public to avoid conflating the two. “One is something that should be rejoiced,” he stated regarding the transfer.
He recalled his visits to Balochistan and Sindh, where locals expressed their desire for greater representation in judicial appointments. “You cannot believe how they look at us and ask, ‘When will you consider us for high court appointments?'”
Regarding the inter-se seniority of the judges involved in the transfers, CJP Afridi confirmed that the matter was under consideration, but refrained from providing his own stance. “Please just wait. This matter has been taken up, and it will come to us one way or another. It will come soon,” he remarked.
While the seniority issue remains unresolved, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq has already issued the seniority list for high court judges, with Justice Sardar Sarfraz Dogar, transferred from Lahore High Court (LHC), designated as the senior-most judge of IHC.
However, the transfer of the judges has sparked criticism from various quarters.
Akhtar Hussain, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) representative in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), has raised serious concerns, arguing that the transfers not only disrupt the seniority structure of the IHC but also undermine the independence of the judiciary.
Hussain has been a consistent supporter of government-backed nominees for judicial appointments, particularly since the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
Meanwhile, in response to the transfer, the Islamabad Bar Council has announced plans to hold a long march on February 10 and is considering a boycott of proceedings involving the transferred judges.
Former additional attorney General Tariq Mahmood Khokhar slammed the justification behind the transfer, dismissing claims of promoting diversity and federalism.
“The rationale behind the transfer of these judges is not ethnicity, diversity, or federalism. A paranoid institution seeks to replace or control independent, competent and impartial judges. Having failed once before, they have contrived an alternative strategy,” Khokhar argued.
Khokhar went further, accusing the government of attempting to take control of the judiciary through a manipulative strategy. “Article 200 of the Constitution is no longer in the hands of independent persons. It is in the hands of the state’s pervasive enforcers, a controlled assemblage,” he added.
He condemned what he saw as an orchestrated attempt to weaken the judiciary from within.
“They have acted with full consciousness of what they were doing. The IHC judges were not subdued by external pressures. The stage is now set to exert control them from within.”
He also said that the constitutional provision invoked for the transfers was being misused for ulterior motives. “The last vestiges of an independent judiciary are being swept away with impunity,” he said, describing CJP Afridi’s comments as “Orwellian newspeak” meant to obscure the true intentions behind the transfers.
Khokhar alleged that the transfers and manipulation of judicial seniority were part of a broader effort to create a judicial crisis. “This is a prima facie mala fide transfer of judges and rigged seniority over denizen judges,” he added.
