LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday transferred 25 district and sessions judges (D&SJs) in Punjab including those hearing corruption cases against Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and other leaders of the PML-N.

According to a notification issued by LHC Registrar Mushtaq Ahmad Ojla, D&SJs Jawadul Hassan had been transferred and posted from Lahore’s accountability court No II to Muzaffargarh; Muhammad Akmal Khan from Lahore’s accountability court No III to Bahawalnagar; and Amjad Nazir Chaudhry from Lahore’s accountability court No V to Bahawalpur.

References of money laundering/illegal assets, Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme against the family of Shehbaz and others were pending before these three judges.Other cases pending before these judges include Paragon City against former railways minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq, his brother former provincial minister Khwaja Salman Rafiq and others, assets beyond means against former defence minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif.

Judge Chaudhry also seized a corruption reference against PTI’s leader Sibtain Khan and others.

D&SJ Shakir Hassan had also been transferred and posted from Lahore’s special court for control of narcotics substance to Lodhran. A drug recovery case against PML-N MNA Rana Sanaullah Khan was pending before the judge. The judge had taken charge of the special court in November 2019 one month after his predecessor Masood Arshad had been restrained by the ‘authority’ through a WhatsApp message from working in the middle of the proceedings of the drug case against the former law minister.

Others transferred and posted D&SJs include Sardar Tariq Sabir from Sargodha to Jhelum, Muhammad Saleem from Bahawalnagar to Sahiwal, Naveed Ahmad (OSD) from Lahore to Mianwali, Muhammad Arshad Ali from Narowal to Sargodha, Sadia Masood Sabir from Sheikhupura to Narowal, Chaudhry Muhammad Anwarul Haq from Bahawalpur to Dera Ghazi Khan, Raja Pervez Akhtar (OSD) from Sargodha to Rajanpur, Aqil Hassan Chohan from Sialkot’s district consumer court to Chakwal, Ghazanfar Mehtab from additional registrar Rawalpindi seat of LHC to Layyah, Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan from Rawalpindi’s judge special court (central) to Rawalpindi seat as additional registrar, Tahir Nawaz Khan from Lahore to Multan, Rana Zahid Iqbal from Multan to Sialkot, Iram Ayaz from Sahiwal to Lahore, Naseem Ahmad Virk from Mianwali to Lahore, Malik Zulqarnain Awan from Layyah to Lahore, Shazib Saeed from Dera Ghazi Khan to Lahore.

Muhammad Khalil Naz has been transferred from Rajanpur to Lahore, Aurangzeb from Chakwal to Lahore, Ali Nawaz from Sialkot to Lahore, and Abdul Rehman from Muzaffargarh to Lahore. The last eight judges transferred to Lahore had been asked to report to the LHC for further orders.

Through a separate notification, D&SJ Pervez Ali Sipra has been transferred and posted from Lodhran to Multan.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2021