CJP Afridi welcomes judges’ transfer to Islamabad High Court

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi on Monday praised the transfer of judges from other provinces to the Islamabad High Court.Addressing the oath-taking ceremony of the Press Association of Supreme Court, the chief justice said “Islamabad is a symbol of federation”.”The recent transfer of judges to IHC is according to the constitution. It is a very good step under Article 200 of the constitution,” said the chief justice.He added that the federation belonged to all parts of the country.According to CJP Afridi, more judges should be transferred to IHC from other provinces.”The appointment and transfer are two separate issues. These judges were already serving in the high courts,” said the chief justice. Talking about the backlog in the apex court, the chief justice said he was hearing 30 to 40 cases on a daily basis.”We need more judges in the Supreme Court to reduce the workload,” he said.Earlier, the lawyers from the Islamabad Bar Council, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, and the District Bar Association boycotted courts on Monday in protest against the transfer of judges from other high courts to the IHC.Islamabad Bar Council President Aleem Abbasi said the lawyers’ community had rejected the decision of law ministry to transfer the judges from other high courts to the Islamabad High Court (IHC).Meanwhile, Islamabad High Court Bar Association President Riasat Ali Azad raised serious objection to the transfers and said why an LHC judge was being brought into IHC.