IHC curbs registrar's power to shift cases without legal grounds

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The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday barred the deputy registrar (judicial) from transferring cases from a single bench to a division bench without a clear legal basis.

In a 12-page verdict, Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Sardar Ejaz Ishaq also directed the registrar to follow existing court guidelines and stop reassigning cases—already fixed before a division bench on the instructions of the acting chief justice—to other benches.

The court stated that until the full court offers further opinion on the matter, the deputy registrar must operate strictly under current judicial guidelines and adhere to High Court Rules and Orders.

The judgment clarified that while the deputy registrar has the authority to fix and mark cases to benches, the role does not extend to reassigning them or withdrawing them from one bench to another without legal justification.

“Only cases involving legal interpretation or those of a similar nature that provide justification may warrant such reassignment,” the ruling said.

The court further noted that the authority to approve the judicial roster lies solely with the chief justice, according to High Court Rules and Orders.

In its decision, the court cited a previous case, where it had already been established that the presiding judge decides whether to hear a case, in the absence of a recusal or bias.

The ruling added that the registrar’s office failed to assist the acting chief justice properly in this matter on the administrative side.