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