The internal details of the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) full court meeting have come to light, revealing that the judges approved the Practice and Procedure Rules and the Establishment Rules by a razor-thin majority vote. According to sources, both sets of rules were passed with a 6-5 majority.
Those who voted in favour of the rules included Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, Justice Azam Khan, Justice Muhammad Asif, and Justice Inam Amin Minhas.
Sources stated that the judges who opposed the approval were Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, and Justice Saman Riffat Imtiaz.
Sources revealed that no debate was permitted before the agenda was approved. A letter from two judges seeking amendments to the agenda was rejected, while another judge requested the postponement of the full court session, arguing that more time was needed to review the Practice and Procedure and Establishment rules. Despite these objections, the rules were passed by a majority vote.
Meanwhile, the first two items on the agenda were passed unanimously. The first related to the powers of family court judges, and the second concerned issues related to the IHC building. Both items were adopted by consensus.
