ISLAMABAD: The Islam­abad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA), a key stakeholder in the ongoing judicial seniority dispute, appears to be undecided on whether to pursue a petition filed by its former president ahead of a crucial Supreme Court hearing, scheduled for April 14 (today).

Sources privy to the matter revealed that the current IHCBA leadership has yet to formally decide whether the bar would become a party to the dispute regarding the inter-se seniority of judges transferred from other high courts to the IHC.

The development comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear identical petitions, including the one filed by five senior IHC judges.

The previous bar president, Riasat Ali Azad, had submitted a petition to the apex court before his term expired. However, the current bar representatives, led by its president Syed Wajid Ali Shah Gillani, reportedly found “no formal record such as meeting minutes or resolutions” authorising Mr Azad to file the petition on behalf of the association.

Lawyer appointed by bar’s previous leaders ‘not authorised’ to pursue case by incumbents

Despite appointing prominent lawyer Faisal Siddiqui as counsel by the ex-president, the incumbent bar lead­ership has not authorised any legal representation in the case, sources claimed.

IHCBA President Gillani had earlier stated that the decision to participate in the litigation would be made after a formal meeting of the executive body. However, neither any such meeting was held nor resolution pas­sed. The agenda of bar meetings is publicly circulated.

Former bar president Azad told Dawn that being representative of the bar, he had filed the petition and also appointed senior lawyer Faisal Siddiqui as counsel. However, ex-secretary Shafqat Tarrar, who had signed the petition, admitted that the bar did not hold any executive or general body meeting before filing the petition.

Insiders said the current bar initially considered withdrawing the petition but refrained from doing so after receiving a letter from several lawyers, including prominent rights activists, reminding Mr Gillani of their “electoral mandate”.

A five-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and comprising Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Shahid Bilal, Salahuddin Panhwar, and Shakeel Ahmed, will take up petitions filed by the IHC judges, the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) and the IHCBA.

On the other hand, Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, and Saman Rafat Imtiaz have sought a court declaration that judges transferred to the IHC cannot be considered permanent members of the court until they take oath under Article 194 of the Constitution.

They have also challenged the seniority list considered by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan on Feb 10, arguing that it “wrongfully” included the transferred judges, leading to improper recommendations for elevation to the Supreme Court.

The petitioners demand that the Feb 12 notification issued for appointment of Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar as acting chief justice of the IHC be set aside, asserting that he was “ineligible under constitutional provisions”.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2025