Justice Sattar Files Charge Sheet Against IHC Chief Justice
The new judicial year in the IHC began on Tuesday with Justice Dogar convening a full court session attended by all judges. Officials said the chief justice scheduled another full court session for 2pm on Wednesday, issuing formal notices requiring the attendance of all IHC judges.
While the detailed agenda was not made public, such sessions are typically held at the start of the judicial year to review the court’s performance, discuss administrative matters, and set priorities for the months ahead.
The full court meeting, chaired by Justice Dogar, will bring together all serving IHC judges for collective deliberation on judicial and administrative issues.
Sources said judges had requested revisions to the full court agenda, expressing strong reservations about the IHC’s current state of affairs and suggesting remedial measures. Copies of these letters were also shared with other judges.
Justice Sattar’s letter, seen by Dawn.com, stated that the full court meeting was “long overdue but a welcome step towards correcting the illegalities that have seeped into the administration of Islamabad High Court,” noting that the process had begun under the previous top judge.
“I am writing to request the inclusion of the matters listed below for discussion in the full court meeting. I have provided brief explanations or questions to highlight their relevance, but I trust the message will be clear.
“Some may argue that this exercise is futile given the persistent disregard for judicial independence, institutional norms, and comity among judges observed since your transfer to the IHC.
Yet one must never lose hope in the innate capacity of individuals to act decently and take control of their agency,” Justice Sattar wrote.
IHC’s diminishing role as a guardian of fundamental rights:
Justice Sattar emphasized that the judiciary’s primary responsibility in a rule-of-law state is to protect constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights against state abuse.
He questioned whether IHC judges genuinely believe the court is fulfilling this “pivotal constitutional duty” today and whether citizens perceive them as defenders of their rights.
Failure to supervise subordinate judiciary:
Justice Sattar raised concerns about whether the IHC is properly supervising subordinate courts to ensure judges can perform their functions without fear, as mandated under Article 203 of the Constitution.
He asked whether the Islamabad District judiciary should continue to resemble a “game of musical chairs” dominated by deputationists, or whether the IHC has a duty to develop it into an independent institution with integrity and efficiency.
Lack of transparency in case fixation and roster preparation:
Justice Sattar criticized Justice Dogar for creating rosters that excluded senior judges, including the senior puisne judge, from heading divisional benches. “Should case fixation rest on the whims of the Chief Justice, or should it follow transparent norms, aligning judges’ expertise with assigned cases? Cause lists under your watch often assign cases to transferred and additional judges, sidelining permanent judges unhappy with your transfer to IHC,” he wrote.
Use of administrative powers to undermine judicial independence:
Justice Sattar lamented that under Justice Dogar’s leadership, the office had refused to issue cause lists in violation of judicial orders, transferred cases between courts without authority, and issued rosters that deprived two judges—including himself—of their dockets, rendering them dysfunctional in their single-bench jurisdictions.
The judge said that the above might be successful manoeuvres in “rendering some judges irrelevant” and the country’s judicial history was replete with “similar malevolent practices that spread during authoritarian times”. He, however, questioned whether such “subversion of judicial independence” was justifiable.
Composition of committees to undermine high court’s collegiate character:
On this issue, Justice Sattar said Justice Dogar had constituted committees “such that they exclude most of the senior judges of IHC from participating in its administrative functions.
“You’ve excluded the two senior-most judges of IHC from the Administration Committee in breach of IHC rules and entrenched institutional norms abided by all high courts, including the LHC from where you’ve come.
“Do you think manning IHC committees with additional judges appointed earlier this year and judges transferred from other provinces along with you strengthen IHC as an Institution and promote collegiality amongst judges?”
Assumption of powers to transform chief justice’s office into a monocracy:
The judge said the IHC chief justice had “assumed powers to issue a circular requiring judges to seek an NOC (no-objection certificate) from you to travel out of the country, essentially placing judges on the Exit Control List”.
Justice Sattar said neither the Constitution nor the law vested such rule-making power in the office of the chief justice to “lord over his peers”.
“The draft rules circulated for consideration during the full court meeting also seek to concentrate all administrative powers in the office of the chief justice. You might have read Lord Acton’s words that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Will transforming the office of chief justice into an autocracy, in an effort to reduce the judiciary to a regiment, bolster judicial independence essential for the discharge of our adjudicatory duties?” Justice Sattar pondered.
Performance evaluation of judges and reporting of judgments:
Regarding this issue, Justice Sattar said judges were the highest-paid public officials and should be strenuously held to account for their performance by the public.
However, he questioned whether there should not be an agreed objective framework for their performance evaluation.
“Under your watch IHC has issued skewed statistics regarding discharge of judicial work at IHC. These statistics are designed to cultivate an impression that some judges work super efficiently, while others don’t work at all.
What if a curious researcher were to investigate the nature (and number) of cases marked to the ‘performing’ judges versus others, and the nature, quality and length of orders that make up their disposal figures?
Should we not put together a consensual performance-evaluation criteria as well as guidance for which judgments are to be reported, to earnestly seek to enhance our performance and hold ourselves to account, instead of engaging in deceptive advertising?”
Concluding his letter, Justice Sattar said:
“You will appreciate that it takes decades to build institutions, but they can be destroyed exponentially. We have seen this happen to Islamabad High Court in the last couple of years.
“While I may be accused of letting hope trump experience in writing to you to encourage and facilitate intra-institutional debate to stem the rot that is reducing this judicial organ into nothingness, I am partial to Rousseau’s opinion regarding the capacity of human beings for virtue.
History doesn’t remember kindly those who only make hay while the sun shines. And history also reminds us that all good (and bad) times come to an end sooner rather than later.”
Justice Sattar expressed hope that the IHC chief justice would read the letter to “appreciate the spirit in which it is written”.
He added: “I apologise in advance if the content causes any offence, for that is not the intent.
We are all grown adults who should be able to speak candidly about the state of our institution’s disrepair.
Without honest identification and admission of our failings, there can be no corrective action.”
It may be mentioned that Justice Sattar previously wrote letters to Justice Dogar on multiple issues, including amendments in the IHC Rules and formation of administrative committees, among others.
Recently, the IHC chief justice constituted a division bench exclusively for clearing the backlog of nearly 2,000 tax references.
Justice Sattar is a member of this special bench.
IHC administration transferred all the cases pending in the dockets of Justice Sattar and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan to the other available judges.
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