ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) in April disposed of a total of 1,258 cases across its benches, according to an official report published on its official website.

As per statistics, newcomers once again outperformed the senior judges in deciding the cases.

Leading the disposals was Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas, who single-handedly resolved 232 cases, including 141 under the “Notice” category—the highest for any judge in that segment.

Close behind was Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, who cleared 196 cases, while Justice Muhammad Asif disposed of 98 cases.

All three judges assumed the charge of their respective offices in January this year.

Justice Minhas and Justice Azam were sworn in at the IHC, while Justice Asif was transferred from the Balochistan High Court (BHC) to the IHC in February.

The newcomers collectively decided 526 cases during the last month.

Senior Puisne Judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani decided 137 cases including 120 cases of the “notice” category.

Acting chief justice contributed to 94 cases, primarily addressing urgent matters (43) and notices (37).

Notably, combined benches also played a role, with the bench of Justice Minhas and the acting chief justice resolving 17 cases.

Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri disposed of 68 cases, Justice Babar Sattar 39, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan 45, Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir 50, Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz 61 and Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro decided 56 cases.

The report categorised disposals into “urgent, motion, notice” and others.

In April last year, the IHC, with the strength of eight judges, decided 859 cases.

Last year’s number of cases included 230 cases of the then chief justice Aamer Farooq, and the rest were decided by the seven judges.

IHC is now functioning with 11 judges against the sanctioned strength of 13 judges.

Justice Farooq was elevated to the Supreme Court and IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb is also rendering his services in the apex court as an acting judge.

In January, Justice Mihas and Justice Azam Khan were inducted into the IHC by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.

In February, the President transferred Justice Dogar from the Lahore High Court, Justice Soomro from Sindh High Court and Justice Asif from Balochistan High Court to the IHC.

The transfers created unrest among the senior judges. Justice Kayani, Justice Jahangiri, Justice Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz and Justice Imtiaz initially filed a representation before the then chief justice Aamer Farooq and, upon rejection of their case, moved to the Supreme Court, saying that the transfer was not made in the public interest.

In a recent hearing, the counsel for five judges of the IHC said that in case a high court has a backlog of cases of a particular nature, such as criminal cases due to a dearth of judges having expertise in that subject, the transfer period of a judge should commensurate with the backlog of the cases.

About the term “public interest” in the judicial context, the lawyer said that the public interest should mean better administration of justice, with the underlying purpose of ensuring access to justice.

At present, there is a backlog of 18,000 cases in the IHC.

The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court questioned how the concept of public interest could be tied to the transfer of a judge from one high court to another, given that every judge is bound to administer justice in accordance with the law and the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2025