The Lahore Bar Association (LBA) requested the Supreme Court on Friday to rule that the president cannot transfer judges between high courts under Article 200(1) of the Constitution unless there is a palpable public interest.
Senior counsel Hamid Khan filed the LBA petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, requesting that the president’s exercise of powers under Article 200(1) be read alongside Article 175(A) without subsuming the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP)’s power to appoint high court judges.
The case was filed after three judges from Lahore, Sindh, and Balochistan high courts were transferred to Islamabad in February.
On February 20, five IHC justices petitioned the Supreme Court to determine their seniority. Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, and Saman Rafat Imtiaz also petitioned to prevent the IHC justices from performing judicial and administrative duties.
The LBA petition argued that the notification transferring judges to the IHC was unconstitutional and illegitimate since it failed to disclose any public interest and should be vacated.
The petition argued that the supreme court should rule that the transferred justices are not IHC judges under Article 194 and the Third Schedule of the Constitution.
The petition asked the Supreme Court to rule that, in accordance with the Aslam Awan and Farrukh Irfan cases, transferred judges’ inter-se seniority should be determined from the date they take oath as IHC justices and will be lower in the seniority list.
It added that the Supreme Court should also rule that the Feb. 8 representation by five IHC judges to then-IHC chief justice Aamir Farooq was illegal, unconstitutional, and in violation of settled law, and that the IHC’s Feb. 3 seniority list and representation decision should be set aside.
The petition requested that the Supreme Court rule that the JCP improperly considered a flawed IHC judge list on February 10. It further argued that the president’s Feb. 12 notification naming Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar as Acting Chief Justice of the IHC was illegal and that he could not have been a judge. It requested to lay aside the notification.
The appeal also requested that the Supreme Court order the IHC registrar to create a new seniority list in conformity with its ruling in the current case.
E-filing
The Supreme Court has implemented a new e-filing system at the Institution Desk to digitalize and streamline court proceedings.
Since March 17, advocates and parties are invited to submit both a hard and scanned copy of their cases and applications to the Principal Seat and Branch Registries.
Send the scanned version by USB or email to efiling@scp.gov.pk. Since online cases are scheduled for consideration within two weeks, the Supreme Court rewards out-of-turn hearings.
This effort reduces paperwork, speeds up legal processes, and improves judicial transparency and accessibility.
By promoting e-filing, the Supreme Court reinforces its commitment to streamlining case management and delivering justice while minimizing transactional costs.
