ISLAMABAD: Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir of the Islamabad High Court recused himself from hearing a petition challenging the repatriation of section officers appointed on deputation, observing that the petitioners had attempted to approach him.
Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir on Friday disclosed this during the hearing of a petition filed by Section Officers working on deputation. He stated that the petitioners had made attempts to approach him through telephone calls.
The petitioners, originally appointed as teachers, are currently working as Section Officers on deputation. They have challenged their repatriation back to their respective province. They have also challenged the impugned notification and sought a declaration that they should be regularized and absorbed in the Office Management Group (OMG).
Expressing his annoyance over the petitioners, the judge remarked, “You get recommendations made and have calls made to me. This is not how things work. It is wrong and inappropriate.”
Justice Arbab said the petitioners - Khalid Mahmood, Muhammad Arif, Dilshad Ahmed, Saeed Chaudhry, Dr Muhammad Ismail and Najeebullah - tried to contact him and had arranged for calls to him, describing the conduct as improper. “Everything else may be fine, but you had calls made to me. This is inappropriate,” he said.
The judge then declined to hear the case and sent the file to the office of the Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar for further action.
During the proceedings, lawyer Raja Aleem Abbasi appeared on behalf of the petitioners and explained that the section officers serving on deputation were originally teachers who had challenged the decision to send them back to their respective provinces.
The petitioners have challenged the notification directing them to return to their parent departments, and they wanted to remain in their current positions in Islamabad rather than be sent back to their respective provinces, the court was told. Justice Arbab said that the legal arguments could be considered but stressed that the attempts to contact him were inappropriate.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026