Islamabad, September 3, 2025: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) held a full court meeting on Wednesday, where key administrative rules were approved amid a visible divide among the judges.
According to sources, the Establishment Rules and Practice and Procedure Rules were passed by majority vote without detailed discussion. A request from one judge to delay the meeting for a few days to allow consultation and debate was rejected.
Out of the court’s 11 judges, six voted in favour of the rules while five opposed. Those supporting approval included Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Arbab Tahir, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, Justice Azam Khan, Justice Muhammad Asif, and Justice Inam Amin Minhas.
The dissenting judges were Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Ijaz Ishaq Khan, and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
Sources further disclosed that two letters written by Justices Babar Sattar and Ijaz Ishaq Khan, seeking amendments to the meeting’s agenda, were not taken up during the session.
During the proceedings, the judges also discussed other institutional matters. The issue of structural flaws in the IHC building was referred to the federal government, while a unanimous decision was reached on clarifying the powers of family court judges.
The outcome of the meeting underscores growing differences within the IHC bench, as several judges continue to raise concerns about transparency and administrative decision-making inside the court.
