Pakistan: Imran Khan moves Supreme Court against transfer of judges

Islamabad [Pakistan], March 14 (ANI): Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the recent transfer to judges, calling it "unconstitutional and unlawful," The Express Tribune reported.
The petition, submitted under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, argues that the transfer notification breaches the independence of the judiciary. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has urged the court to declare the notification null and void.
The federal government and the registrars of the high courts in Lahore, Sindh, Balochistan and Islamabad have been mentioned as respondents in the case, The Express Tribune reported.
Through the petition, Imran Khan has requested a directive from the Supreme Court to ensure compliance with legal precedents, including the landmark Al-Jehad Trust case, which set guidelines for judicial appointments and transfers.
The petition emphasised that judicial transfers must follow constitutional principles and must not be influenced by external pressures. It also requested a strict observance of judicial autonomy, The Express Tribune reported.
The challenge comes amid rising tensions between PTI and the government, with the judiciary often at the centre of political controversies. According to legal experts, the case could test the Supreme Court's view on judicial independence.
Imran Khan's legal team stated that the decision could affect fair trials and judicial neutrality, urging the apex court to intervene immediately. In February, the judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided to challenge the rejection of their representation.
In the representation, the IHC judges requested the restoration of the IHC's previous seniority structure. They also requested the annulment of the decision issued by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who had dismissed the representation.
Previously, Chief Justice Aamer Farooq had upheld the placement of three transferred judges to the Islamabad High Court from three other high courts, keeping their rankings at the second, ninth and 12th positions in the seniority list. The five IHC judges challenged the new seniority list.
The chief justice said that the transferred judges need not take a fresh oath and that their seniority would be counted from the date of their first oath in the high court. Accordingly, the IHC judges' seniority list will remain unchanged.
On February 1, the strength of the judges at the IHC rose with the transfer of Justice Sarfaraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court (LHC), Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro from the Sindh High Court and Justice Muhammad Asif from the Balochistan High Court.
On February 4, a revised seniority list was issued, which named Justice Sarfaraz Dogar as the senior puisne judge, followed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani as the second senior-most judge and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb in the third position.
Justice Tariq Jahangiri was in fourth place, Justice Babar Sattar fifth, Justice Sardar Ishaq Khan sixth, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir seventh, Justice Suman Riffat Imtiaz eighth, Justice Soomro ninth, Justice Azam Khan 10th, Justice Muhammad Asif 11th and Justice Inam Amin Minhas 12th, as per the report.
After the seniority list, Justice Kayani, Justice Jahangiri, Justice Sattar, Justice Khan, and Justice Imtiaz submitted a representation to the chief justice requesting that he not consider Justice Dogar an IHC judge until he took the oath as required under Article 194 of the Constitution.
The five judges said Justice Dogar had been sworn in as an LHC judge. However, he is already mentioned as an IHC Judge in the IHC's seniority list. They requested that the chief justice resolve the matter before the JCP meeting.
The IHC chief justice rejected the representation and directed the IHC registrar's office to tell all five judges about his decision on the representation, according to sources. (ANI)