ISLAMABAD – Delay in the oath-taking ceremony of Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) newly-appointed chief justice and other seven judges is irking litigants as well as lawyers, as the IHC has stopped admitting cases and petitions for the time being.
On the other hand, the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court has also declined to admit cases of the residents of the federal capital, which fall within the jurisdiction of the IHC. And lawyers and litigants in the federal capital have nowhere to go.
Talking to Pakistan Today on Monday, IHC Bar Association President Sajjad Afzal Cheema said lawyers and litigants were confused because both high courts were not admitting their cases. However, he hoped that the IHC would start complete functioning next week.
The IHC administration had started admitting cases and writ petitions on December 13, but the IHC registrar has now ordered the administration not to do so. Per Law Ministry sources, over 1,600 cases have already been shifted from Islamabad District Courts to the IHC, whereas transferring of the cases from the LHC Rawalpindi Bench to the IHC continued.
They said over 5,000 cases were being shifted from the LHC Rawalpindi Bench to the IHC.
