- Intra-court appeal filed through senior lawyer Munir A Malik, requests the apex court to declare the verdict given by 5-member constitutional bench null and void
ISLAMABAD: Five judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday challenged the Supreme Court (SC) verdict in the judges’ transfer case.
In an intra-court appeal filed in the SC through their counsel Munir A Malik, the judges prayed to the court to declare the verdict given by a five-member constitutional bench in the case null and void.
A five-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, had on June 19, 2025 declared the transfer of judges to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) constitutional. The bench pronounced the short verdict by three judges to two.
However, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shakeel Ahmad differed with the majority decision.
Earlier, the bench reserved its decision on the petitions filed against the transfer of judges to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after the lawyers concluded their arguments.
During the hearing, counsel for the former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, Idrees Ashraf, said that the judges were transferred on political grounds, which was unconstitutional.
He further said there existed a conflict between Article 175 and Article 200 of the constitution. He argued that a judge could not be transferred permanently to fill a vacant seat.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar remarked that the Judicial Commission did not have any power to transfer a judge. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan asked whether any judge had been transferred under Article 200 in the past.
Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan replied there existed no such precedent.
He further said that the role of the president and the prime minister in the transfer of judges was limited. “The chief justices also have a say in the matter,” he said and added, “Hence in this case, mala fide intent cannot be proved.”
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that a complete procedure for the transfer of judges had been laid down in Article 200.
It is pertinent to mention here that Justice Sarfaraz Dogar, Justice Muhammad Asif, and Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro had been transferred to the IHC.
Following this, five IHC judges filed a petition in the apex court in which they challenged the transfer of judges as well as their seniority.
