LAHORE, Feb 29: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Sayed Zahid Husain dismissed a petition on Friday against the establishment of the Islamabad High Court under a presidential order.

Petitioner MD Tahir challenged the establishment of the high court in Islamabad, calling it a violation of the Constitution and a tool to divide lawyers.

Deputy Attorney General Qamar Zaman Qureshi said the petition should be dismissed because President’s order No 5 of 2007 that enabled the establishment of a high court for Islamabad had been validated by a larger bench of the Supreme Court.

The establishment of the high court in Islamabad could not be challenged under article 199 of the constitution, which vested the high courts with vast powers, the chief justice said.

“It may be observed that a high court does not fall in the ambit of a ‘person’ as contemplated by the above provision of the constitution. Thus one high court cannot issue any direction whatsoever to the other to say of questioning the very existence thereof,” the chief justice said. — Reporter