IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(Original Jurisdiction) 
 
PRESENT: 
Mr. Justice Mushir Alam 
Mr. Justice Sardar Tariq Masood 
Mr. Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed 
 
Constitution Petition No.31 of 2019. 
(Under Article 186-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of 
Pakistan, 1973 - transfer of case from Islamabad High Court to any 
other High Court) 
 
Raja Arshad Mehmood 
 
  
 
…Petitioner(s) 
 
 
 
 
 
Versus 
 
Mst. Maliha Malik & others 
 
…Respondent(s) 
 
For the Petitioner(s): 
Mr. Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, ASC 
 
Ch. Akhtar Ali, AOR 
 
  
 
 
 
For Respondents(1-3) 
Mr. 
Faisal 
Siddiqui, 
ASC 
with 
respondents No.1 & 3. 
  
 
 
Date of hearing: 
08.11.2019 
 
ORDER 
 
 
 
Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, J. The petitioner 
is amongst the accused, contesting indictment for homicide 
as well as murderous assault, before the learned Special 
Judge Court-I Anti-Terrorism, Islamabad, during pendency 
whereof, he was admitted to bail by the trial Court vide order 
dated 30-4-2018; an even dated application presented by 
deceased’s mother, Mst. Maliha Malik, respondent herein, 
was entertained by the office as a Constitutional petition and 
posted for hearing before a learned Division Bench of 
Islamabad High Court, same day, whereupon operation of the 
order passed by the learned trial Judge was suspended; the 
petition was numbered as W.P. No.1721 of 2019 titled as Mst. 
Maliha Malik Vs. Raja Arshad Mehmood, etc.; it is now 
clubbed with Crl. Misc. No.326-BC/2019 titled as Malik Tariq 
Ayoub and Muhammad Jawad Sohrab Vs. Raja Arshad 
Mehmood, etc, seeking cancellation of bail, in exercise of 
Constitution Petition No.31 of 2019. 
 
 
2
powers under section 497 (5) of the Code of Criminal 
Procedure, 1898. These petitions are pending adjudication in 
the 
Islamabad 
High 
Court 
and 
the 
petitioner 
seeks 
withdrawal thereof from the said High Court for their transfer 
to any other High Court in the country on the ground that 
three out of four Judges including the Hon’ble Chief Justice 
had earlier recused to hear the allied matters and, thus, 
according to the learned counsel, the transfer of the cases 
would be most expedient in the interest of justice, a plea 
vehemently resisted by the respondent with the plea that the 
Judges had since recalled their recusals with the consent of 
both sides and, thus, there was no occasion for transfer of 
cases to some other High Court.  
2. 
 
The case has a chequered history; motions by both 
sides were earlier attended by the different Benches of the 
Islamabad High Court. In Criminal Original No.281-C of 2015 
Barrister Fahad Sohrab Malik Vs. Maliha Sohrab Malik, etc., 
Athar Minallah, J. as he then was, recused on account of 
personal acquaintance with both sides. On 9-11-2017, 
respondent sought recusal of Shoukat Aziz Siddiqui, J. as he 
then was, from a Division Bench hearing W.P. No.178 of 2017 
Malik Tariq Ayoub & another Vs. The State, a request acceded 
to, though disapprovingly; the same Constitutional petition 
came up for hearing before a Division Bench comprising 
Athar Minallah and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, JJ. when 
they declined to hear the case on 19-10-2017 on account of 
acquaintance with one of the petitioners, namely, Muhammad 
Jawad Sohrab whose counsel also prayed for transfer of the 
case to some other Bench. In yet another contest in W.P. 
No.1721/2019 titled as Mst. Maliha Malik Vs. Raja Arshad 
Mehmood, etc, on 19.8.2019, both members of the Division 
Bench comprising Athar Minallah, CJ. and Mohsin Akhtar 
Kayani, J. recused themselves in the face of objections raised 
by both the sides. In supra criminal miscellaneous, the 
petitioner sought recusal of Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, J. from a 
Division Bench headed by Aamer Farooq, J., a request once 
Constitution Petition No.31 of 2019. 
 
 
3
again granted, with intense disapproval. In this uncanny 
state of affairs, three out of four available Judges in the 
Islamabad High Court had recused to hear the case, either on 
their own or on the request of the parties, on more than one 
occasion.  
3. 
 
Ordinarily a High Court does not have to be 
precluded to exercise authority conferred upon it by the 
Constitution and the Law, in cases/matters falling within its 
jurisdiction, therefore, this Court would exercise powers of 
transfer under Article 186-A of the Constitution, most 
sparingly as well as cautiously in extraordinary situations, to 
secure the ends of justice, certainly not in the run of the mill 
cases for the satisfaction of disgruntled parties, however, in 
the present case, we have noticed that three Judges of the 
Islamabad High Court had earlier recused to hear the case 
that requires hearing by a Division Bench and, thus, in the  
presence of available Judges, there was no option for them to 
once again attend the plea without leaving the parties 
remediless, therefore, we find it expedient as well as in the 
interest of justice to withdraw W.P. No.1721 of 2019 titled as 
Mst. Maliha Malik Vs. Raja Arshad Mehmood, etc. as well as 
Crl. Misc. No.326-BC/2019 titled as Malik Tariq Ayoub and 
Muhammad Jawad Sohrab Vs. Raja Arshad Mehmood, etc, 
from Islamabad High Court and transfer the same to 
Peshawar High Court for disposal in accordance with law. 
Constitutional Petition No.31 of 2019 is accordingly allowed.   
 
 
 
 
Judge 
 
 
 
Judge 
 
 
 
Judge 
Islamabad  
8th November, 2019 
Not  approved for reporting 
Azmat/- 
