Law ministry notifies transfer of 3 IHC judges to other high courts

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Law and Justice on Wednesday notified the transfer of three judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to other high courts under Article 200 of the Constitution.

The development comes a day after the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved the transfer of three judges from the IHC to other courts in a move that drew sharp criticism from lawyers’ bodies for lacking transparency and uniform criteria.

A notification issued by the ministry on Wednesday stated that President Asif Ali Zardari, on the recommendation of the JCP, had approved the transfer of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani to the Lahore High Court; Justice Babar Sattar to the Peshawar High Court; and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz to the Sindh High Court.

A separate summary moved to the Prime Minister’s Office, dated April 29, also confirmed that the JCP, in its meeting held on April 28, had recommended the transfers by a majority of its total membership.

Under clause (1) of Article 200 of the Constitution, the president may transfer a high court judge from one high court to another on the recommendation of the JCP. Clause (2) provides that the seniority of a transferred judge shall be reckoned from the date of his or her initial appointment.

The transfers, however, have triggered a strong reaction from legal bodies in the capital.

The Islamabad Bar Council (IBC), in a statement issued on Tuesday, said it had taken “serious notice” of the transfers, which it said appeared to lack transparency and raised concerns of mala fide intent.

The council demanded a “structured, periodic and across-the-board rotation policy” for IHC and subordinate court judges based on uniform criteria.

“Isolated and non-uniform transfers, undertaken without any disclosed objective criteria, damage public confidence and judicial integrity,” the IBC said, adding that any rotation policy must be “free from arbitrariness or extraneous considerations.”

Separately, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) also acknowledged that such measures were undertaken within the constitutional framework but emphasised that they should be exercised with uniformity, transparency and principled consistency across the board.

The IHCBA urged competent authorities to formulate a comprehensive rotation mechanism in the interest of fair and transparent administration of justice.

Transfer of judges

The transfers from the IHC follow an amendment to Article 200 of the Constitution, which empowers the JCP to recommend such transfers without requiring the consent of the judges concerned. Prior to the amendment introduced through the 27th Constitution Amendment, a judge’s consent was mandatory for transfer from one high court to another. The revised provision has now vested this authority in the JCP.

It also stipulates that a judge who refuses to accept a transfer may face proceedings under Article 209 before the Supreme Judicial Council.

The transferred judges were among the six who had, in a startling letter written to Supreme Judicial Council members in March 2024, accused the country’s intelligence apparatus of interference in judicial affairs, including attempts to pressure judges through abduction and torture of their relatives and secret surveillance inside their homes.

They were also among the five judges who had formally opposed in February 2025 the then-potential transfer of then-LHC Justice Dogar, warning that his elevation as the IHC chief justice would violate constitutional procedures and judicial norms.

Nevertheless, Justice Dogar was appointed as the acting IHC chief justice on Feb 13, 2025. The next day, he took the oath in a ceremony where all IHC judges were invited, but five of them — including those being transferred — did not attend the ceremony and boycotted it.

Following the development, the IHC went through a major administrative restructuring, which notably reduced the authority of senior puisne judge Justice Kayani — who previously held key decision-making roles — following amendments to the high court rules.

The IHC Administration Com­mittee, previously comprising the chief justice, the senior puisne judge and a senior judge, was restructured to include CJ Dogar and two of his nominees. This reconstitution significantly altered the court’s decision-making authority.

Justice Dogar later took his oath as the IHC CJ on July 8, 2025. And the five IHC senior judges who had opposed his transfer were sidelined in the subsequent reshuffling of key committees.

In September last year, the five judges had submitted separate petitions to the Supreme Court together against a number of issues affecting the court, from the composition of benches to rosters to case transfers.