ISLAMABAD: Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani has returned to the twin cities following a reshuffle at the Lahore High Court (LHC), according to the court’s duty roster for November and December 2026. He will preside over a single bench at the Rawalpindi registry.

Justice Kayani hails from Islamabad, while Islamabad and Rawalpindi are traditionally referred to as the twin cities. He was transferred to the LHC in April this year and assigned to its principal seat in Lahore. Despite being a senior judge of the LHC, he was not assigned to any division bench.

According to the new duty roster, three division benches at the LHC’s Rawalpindi registry will comprise Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Syed Farhad Ali Shah, who will handle criminal matters; Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf and Justice Muhammad Raza Qureshi, who will handle civil matters; and a special division bench comprising Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf and Justice Syed Farhad Ali Shah.

The six single benches at the Rawalpindi registry will be headed by Justices Sadaqat Ali Khan, Mirza Viqas Rauf, Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Muha­mmad Raza Qureshi, Malik Javid Iqbal Wains and Syed Farhad Ali Shah. The roster will remain in effect from Nov 2 to Dec 24, 2026.

Justice Kayani previously served as the senior puisne judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and was expecting to be elevated to chief justice. However, the transfer of Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar from the LHC, along with two other judges from the Sindh and Balochistan high courts, prompted him to challenge the inter-high court transfers.

The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench upheld the transfers to the IHC, including that of Justice Dogar, who is now its chief justice. The decision, however, triggered a broader legal battle. Justice Kayani and other senior IHC judges approached the SC to challenge the administrative powers exercised by Chief Justice Dogar. They alleged that the office had been turned into a “monocracy” and that judges could be excluded from the roster at will.

Following his own transfer to the LHC, Justice Kayani lost his seniority and was placed 12th on the high court’s seniority list.

The new duty roster assigns him only to a single bench at the Rawalpindi registry, despite his previous position as the IHC’s senior puisne judge and his pending challenge to the inter-high court transfers.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2026