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ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday formally declared Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar the “senior-most judge” of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), following the issuance of a revised seniority list by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The development follows a ruling by the Supreme Court on June 19 upholding the constitutionality of transferring three judges — including Justice Dogar — from other provincial high courts and referring the matter of seniority determination to the president.
Earlier this year, the law ministry’s transfer of three judges to the IHC had disrupted the seniority list.
On Friday, five IHC judges challenged the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the transfer of three judges — Justice Dogar from the LHC, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro from the Sindh High Court (SHC), and Justice Muhammad Asif from the Balochistan High Court (BHC).
President Zardari also declared that the status of the transfer of all three judges would be permanent.
The revised listing places Justice Dogar at the top, followed by Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Saman Rafat Imtiaz, Khadim Hussain Soomro, Muhammad Azam Khan, Muhammad Asif and Inaam Ameen Minhas.
Justice Dogar was sworn in as a judge of the Lahore High Court in June 2015 and then transferred to the IHC onFeb 1.
On Feb 13, he was appointed as the acting chief justice of the IHC amid reservations expressed by some judges over his seniority. The next day, he took oath in a ceremony boycotted by his fellow judges. The lawyer bodies of the federal capital also “rejected” his appointment as the acting chief justice.
All IHC judges were invited, but five of them — Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Saman Rafat Imtiaz — did not attend the ceremony.
On Feb 20, the five judges filed a representation, contending that under the Constitution, a high court judge must take a new oath upon transfer to a different high court, which should affect their seniority ranking.
These judges also filed an intracourt appeal last week seeking a stay on recognising the transferred judges’ seniority and restricting them from performing any IHC duties.
In the Supreme Court’s 3-2 Constitutional Bench majority opinion on June 19, it was held that transfers under Article 200 of the Constitution are constitutionally valid.
The bench — headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and comprising Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Shahid Bilal Hassan, Salahuddin Panhwar and Shakeel Ahmed — took up petitions filed by five IHC judges, the Karachi Bar Association and the IHC Bar Association, among others.
The bench also clarified that transferred judges retain their seniority as per their original oath and that the president retains authority to resolve inter se ranking.
Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2025
