Justice Sarfraz Dogar sworn in as Chief Justice IHC

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday administered oath of the office of Chief Justice Islamabad High Court to Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, in an oath-taking ceremony, held at Aiwan e Sadr.

The ceremony was attended by judges of the high court, Chairman Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz, ministers, parliamentarians, representatives and members of lawyers’ bodies and legal fraternity, law officers, lawyers and mediapersons.

Earlier, Justice Dogar has been performing as Acting CJ of IHC. President Asif Ali Zardari officially designated Justice Sarfraz Dogar as the senior-most judge of the Islamabad High Court, following a review of the seniority of the court’s judges, as per a notification issued in light of a Supreme Court decision.

According to the notification, President Zardari finalized the seniority list of Islamabad High Court judges, placing Justice Sarfraz Dogar at the top. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani was ranked second, while Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb holds the third position in the seniority hierarchy.

In addition, the president approved the permanent transfer of three judges—Justice Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, and Justice Mohammad Asif—to the Islamabad High Court.

Read more: President approves transfer of three judges to IHC

The development came after the Supreme Court announced its verdict in the IHC judges’ transfer case, declaring that the transfer of judges is not unconstitutional.

The five member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, announced the judgment in a 3-2 majority ruling.

The court remanded the issue of judges’ seniority back to the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari for further consideration.

The majority opinion was supported by Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Shahid Bilal, and Salahuddin Panhwar. However, Justices Naeem Afghan and Shakeel Ahmad dissented from the majority decision.

It’s worth mentioning here that the Ministry of Law had issued a notification in February confirming the transfer of three judges to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), following the approval of President Asif Ali Zardari.

According to reports, President Asif Ali Zardari approved these transfers under Article 200 of the Constitution, assigning the judges to the Islamabad High Court.

Justice Sarfraz Dogar, previously of the Lahore High Court, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro from the Sindh High Court, and Justice Muhammad Asif from the Baluchistan High Court were transferred to the Islamabad High Court.