ISLAMABAD: Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and the three acting chief justices of the high courts took their oaths on Tuesday as the regular top judges.
The oath-taking ceremonies were held a day after President Asif Ali Zardari appointed them, based on the nominations by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).
President Zardari administered the oath of office to Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar, who has been serving in an acting capacity since February, during a ceremony held at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad.
The ceremony was attended by IHC judges, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, ministers, parliamentarians and the legal fraternity, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported .
The development comes less than a month after the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench, by a majority of 3-2, upheld the constitutionality of transferring three judges from other provincial high courts to the IHC and referred the matter of seniority determination to the president.
The matter of Justice Dogar and two other judges’ transfer to the IHC in February had sparked a controversy as he was made the senior puisne judge , paving the way for his appointment as the acting IHC chief justice after Justice Aamer Farooq’s elevation to the SC.
Five IHC judges , who were petitioners in the SC case, and four former presidents of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association have challenged the apex court’s ruling.
Meanwhile, the high courts in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan also saw their chief justices taking oaths as regular top judges.
In separate ceremonies, Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah took oath as the Peshawar High Court (PHC) chief justice, Justice Rozi Khan Barrech was sworn in as Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) top judge, and Justice Junaid Ghaffar took the helm of the Sindh High Court (SHC).
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori administered the oath to Justice Ghaffar at a ceremony held at the Governor House in Karachi.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, fellow SHC judges and members of the Karachi Bar Association and SHC Bar Association were present on the occasion as well.
After taking oath, Justice Ghaffar visited the Mazar-i-Quaid, where he laid a floral wreath. Responding to a reporter’s query there, he said the confusion of cases being heard by the regular bench or the constitutional bench would “settle down with time”.
Noting that it was the first time that cases had been categorised in such a manner after the 26th Amendment, Justice Ghaffar said whenever there was a confusion of jurisdiction, a larger bench was formed to decide it.
Meanwhile, Justice Shah assumed the responsibilities as the PHC chief justice in a permanent capacity as KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath to him.
He was serving as the PHC acting chief justice since February 14, following the elevation of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim to the SC.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Minister for States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam, and KP Assembly’s opposition leader Ibadullah Khan attended the ceremony.
KP police chief Zulfiqar Hameed, Peshawar Commissioner Riaz Masood and other top officials were also present.
In a post on X, Kundi said he held a meeting with Justice Shah after the oath-taking to discuss the “vital role of the judiciary in ensuring justice, peace and stability”.
“I reiterated my full support for stronger collaboration between institutions to uphold the Constitution and address public grievances effectively,” the governor asserted.
In Quetta, Justice Barrech , who took the oath as BHC’s acting chief justice last month after the retirement of Justice Ejaz Ahmed Swati, was sworn in to continue that role.
Balochistan Governor Jaffar Khan Mandokhail administered the oath to Justice Barech at a ceremony held in the evening at the Governor House.
Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, Balochistan Assembly Speaker Abdul Khaliq Achakzai, and former governor and retired Justice Amanullah Yasinzai were present on the occasion, along with senior lawyers.
