Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said on Monday that unlike civil service, where there was a concept of deputation, there was no such concept in the judiciary, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
During the hearing of petitions filed against the transfer of judges to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the judge remarked that there existed court decisions which said that the seniority of a judge would be determined from the day of his appointment.
A five-member constitutional bench of the SC, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, heard the petitions.
He further said that a judge could not be transferred against his or her will. “And if a judge says he is willing, but the chief justice of the high court does not agree to the transfer, even then there could not be a transfer,” Justice Mazhar said, and added, “There could not be any transfer if the chief justice of the high court to which the judge is to be transferred disagrees.”
Similarly, he went on to say, a judge could not be transferred in case the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) did not agree to it. “The entire focus of our discussion is on the powers of the president in this regard,” Justice Mazhar said, adding, “Nobody has said a word on what happens before the president wields his powers.”
Barrister Salahuddin said that it would be inappropriate to transfer a judge against his will. “It depends on the judge whether he wants to be transferred,” he added.
He further said that only two weeks ago, judges had been transferred from one high court to another in India. “A senior-most judge in the Delhi High Court was posted as the chief justice of the Karnataka High Court,” he elaborated.
Barrister opined that the principle was that not only should justice be done to the judges who were being transferred but also to those where these judges were being transferred.
Later, the court adjourned the case’s hearing until tomorrow.
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori