By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Three judges of the Islamabad High Court have quietly removed their personal belongings from the court building in recent days, fueling speculation about their possible resignations in the wake of a sweeping constitutional amendment that has reshaped the country’s judiciary.
Sources familiar with the matter told the Pakistani newspaper Dawn that Justices Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar and Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan had packed up their personal effects and shifted them back to their respective residences over the past week. According to court officials, the judges instructed their staff to separate all books, documents, decorative pieces and other personal effects that they had brought to the high court after their elevation. The staff completed the packing earlier this week, and the material was quietly moved out of the high court building. The directions to pack up their chambers were issued shortly after the 27th Amendment came into force, the sources said.
The amendment has fundamentally altered the judicial structure by creating the Federal Constitutional Court and enabling the transfer of high court judges without their consent. The moves come at a time of heightened tension within Pakistan’s judiciary, which has faced accusations of external interference and internal upheaval. The three judges are among the six from the Islamabad High Court who last year wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council alleging interference by intelligence agencies in judicial affairs. The letter triggered a debate over the independence of the judiciary and prompted calls for an inquiry from various quarters.
Following that episode, five of the judges, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, challenged the transfer of three judges to the Islamabad High Court earlier this year. The transferred judges, Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and Justice Mohammad Asif, were moved from the Lahore, Sindh and Balochistan high courts in February. Justice Dogar later became the chief justice.
The transfer orders were contested before a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, which dismissed the petition on June 19. The judges then filed an intra-court appeal before the newly established Federal Constitutional Court, which also rejected their plea.
Separately, four of the five judges, excluding Justice Jahangiri, attempted to challenge the 27th Amendment before the Supreme Court under Article 184(3). However, the Supreme Court’s registrar’s office refused to entertain their petition, advising them instead to approach the Federal Constitutional Court, which now holds exclusive jurisdiction over constitutional matters under the amendment.
Two of the three judges who have cleared out their offices, Justice Sattar and Justice Jahangiri, were appointed on Dec. 30, 2020, and would remain entitled to pension and post-retirement benefits if they submit their resignations after Dec. 31. Justice Sardar Ejaz, appointed on Dec. 17, 2021, does not qualify for such benefits under the current rules unless the president exercises discretionary authority to relax the criteria.
The developments underscore broader concerns about judicial autonomy in Pakistan, where the 27th Amendment has centralised authority over constitutional issues and raised questions about the balance of power. Critics have argued that the changes could undermine the independence of high court judges by allowing transfers without their input, potentially politicising the bench.
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