• Justices Dogar, Soomro and Asif refuse to engage counsel; will accept whatever fate court decides for them, AGP tells CB
• KP govt backs stance of ‘aggrieved’ judges, says transfer undermines constitutional procedure, JCP’s role in their appointment
• Bench to conduct daily hearings from Tuesday; seeks concise statements, seniority lists from high courts
ISLAMABAD: Three judges, whose transfer to the Islamabad High Court earlier this year has been challenged before the Supreme Court, left themselves at the mercy of the Constitutional Bench after refusing to engage a lawyer to contest the case.
IHC Acting Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, and Justice Muhammad Asif were transferred to the IHC by the president under Article 200(1) of the Constitution.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan informed the bench that the three judges had conveyed to him that they would not like to be represented in the court by any lawyer and accept whatever the court determined about their fate.
At the last hearing on April 14, the bench issued notices to different respondents named in the petition moved by five IHC judges, who challenged the transfer of the judges.
Notices were also issued to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), registrars of the Supreme Court and four high courts, the AGP, as well as the advocates general of different provinces.
Headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, the five-judge Constitutional Bench had taken up a set of petitions moved by five IHC judges namely Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, with a plea not to treat the three transferred judges as IHC judges until they take a fresh oath under Article 194, read in conjunction with Schedule III of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government supported their petition since the transfer undermined the appointment procedure of judges in the superior judiciary under Article 175 as well as the concept of federalism, independence of judiciary, role of JCP in elevating judges, Schedule III of the Constitution that deals with the oath of judges and the autonomy of the high courts.
