ISLAMABAD: There was significant disruption at Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday as lawyers staged a strike in protest against the transfer of three judges from other high courts. The High Court Bar Association had called for a complete boycott of court proceedings, resulting in more than 80 percent of scheduled cases seeing no lawyer representation.
With lawyers absent, only law officers, government lawyers, and petitioners appeared in the hearings, causing delays and early adjournments in multiple courtrooms.
Chief Justice Aamer Farooq’s court had only one case scheduled for the day, while Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani’s courtroom saw a mix of lawyer and petitioner appearances. In Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb’s court, the case list was cleared rather quickly due to the absence of lawyers. Similarly, most cases in Justice Tariq Jahangiri’s court were also postponed.
Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan also witnessed minimal lawyer attendance, while Justice Babar Sattar’s courtroom saw a few lawyers appearing despite the strike. The situation was similar in the courts of Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, where only a handful of lawyers showed up.
Meanwhile, proceedings continued in the courts of Justice Azam Khan and Justice Raja Inam Ameen Minhas, where lawyers were present. However, in the courtrooms of Justice Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Khadim Hussain Somro, only law officers attended, with no private lawyers in sight.
Justice Dogar had been assigned three cases for today, while Justice Asif was to cater to two cases. The posting of the schedules marked the official start of their judicial duties at the high court.
Three judges from the Sindh High Court (SHC), Lahore High Court (LHC) and Balochistan High Court (BHC) were recently transferred to the IHC. The Ministry of Law issued the notification of their transfer to the IHC. LHC’s Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, SHC’s Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, and BHC’s Justice Muhammad Asif have been appointed to the IHC.
The courtrooms have been set up and nameplates have also been installed. The case lists for two of the judges were also been posted outside their respective courtrooms. The commencement of these duties highlighted the IHC’s readiness to integrate its new judges.
The situation, however, remains tense as legal representatives continue their protest against the reshuffling of judges at the IHC.