LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday ordered the transfer and posting of 48 district and sessions judges (D&SJs) across Punjab, including three judges presiding over cases related to the May 9 incidents involving PTI founding chairman Imran Khan and others.

According to a notification issued by LHC Registrar Abher Gul Khan, D&SJ Malik Ejaz Asif was transferred from the Anti-Terrorism Court-I (ATC) of Rawalpindi and instructed to report to the authority concerned for further orders. He had been posted at the Rawalpindi ATC in September 2023.

The Punjab government had accused Judge Asif of favouring former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, both incarcerated in Adiala Jail. The prosecution department also filed a reference against him on multiple charges, including showing sympathetic treatment towards the PTI’s jailed leaders.

45 district and sessions judges reshuffled

The reference claimed that the judge visited Imran Khan’s cell in Adiala Jail on March 25 and asked the former premier if there was anything he could do for him. It was alleged that Khan requested a refrigerator, and the judge advised him to submit a formal application, which was granted without prior notice to the prosecution. The same was done for Mr Qureshi.

However, the LHC dismissed the reference. The LHC also transferred D&SJ Muhammad Abbas from the Sargodha ATC, instructing him to report to the authority for further orders. He had been posted there in May this year. In June, Judge Abbas complained to the LHC, alleging harassment by intelligence and law enforcement agencies due to the May 9 cases against PTI leaders that were before him. The then LHC chief justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad, who is now a judge of the Supreme Court, took up the complaint and issued contempt notices to senior police officials in Sargodha. In this matter, the LHC directed the prime minister to establish guidelines for the intelligence agencies.

D&SJ Khalid Arshad, the presiding judge of ATC-I Lahore, was also transferred and directed to report to the LHC for further orders. Since his posting in May 2024, Judge Arshad had been hearing trial and bail pleas in several cases related to the May 9 riots, including the attacks on Jinnah House, which also serves as the corps commander’s residence.

Additionally, D&SJ Naseem Ahmad Virk was transferred from Toba Tek Singh and posted as Lahore’s sessions judge. D&SJ Malik Ali Zulqarnain Awan was transferred from Layyah to Lahore for his posting as director general of the Directorate of District Judiciary.

All the judges have been directed to assume their new posts on or before Sept 5.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2024