Office-bearers from the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, Islamabad Bar Council, and Islamabad District Bar Association convened a joint press conference to address serious concerns regarding corruption within the district judiciary and to advocate for structural reforms.
Raja Aalim Abbasi, a member of the Islamabad Bar Council, described the district judiciary in the capital as deeply compromised by corrupt practices. He emphasized that numerous complaints have emerged from various sources, highlighting the judiciary as the most affected sector.
Abbasi revealed that a detailed three-hour meeting among bar representatives focused extensively on the district judiciary’s performance and operational issues. He accused district judges of engaging in corrupt activities and noted that allegations were widespread and persistent.
He further asserted that both civil and district judges were blatantly involved in corruption and were functioning without any effective accountability mechanisms in place.
In a significant development, Abbasi proposed the establishment of a system to facilitate the transfer of judges from Islamabad’s district judiciary to other provinces as part of comprehensive judicial reforms. He suggested forming a judicial policy committee, comprising the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court and the Chief Justice of Pakistan, to devise a structured transfer policy for lower judiciary judges.
Additionally, Abbasi called for reforms in the judicial appointment process, advocating that appointments to the Islamabad High Court should be restricted to lawyers registered with the Islamabad Bar. He argued that since the court primarily serves the Islamabad region, its composition should reflect local legal representation rather than external appointments.
“The Islamabad High Court is not a federal constitutional court; it is a court for Islamabad,” he stated, opposing the practice of appointing judges from outside the local legal community.
The press conference, attended by representatives of all three bar bodies, concluded with a unified call for reforms aimed at enhancing oversight of judicial appointments and transfers, alongside measures to combat corruption within the district judiciary.
