Justice Afghan | Pakistan

Supreme Court’s (SC) Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan on Friday issued a detailed dissenting note on the transfer of judges to the Islamabad High Court, stating that the transfer was carried out in “unnecessary haste” and not in the public interest. In June, a five-member SC bench ruled 3-2 in favour of the February transfers and said that there was nothing unconstitutional about them. Justices Afghan and Shakeel Ahmed dissented and issued a short note stating that the transfer violated articles 2A, 4 and 25 of the Constitution and “undermined the independence of judiciary, due process and principle of equality”. In a copy of today’s dissenting note, available with Dawn.com, Justice Afghan observed that the transfer process for Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Sindh High Court’s Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro was initiated on January 28 and completed on February 1 — just five days. Moreover, a letter of consent for the transfer of Balochistan High Court Justice Muhammad Asif was written ...