The Federal Constitutional Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by five judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking to have their intra-court appeal returned to the Supreme Court in the judges’ transfer case.

The plea, submitted by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, argued that transferring their intra-court appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court fell under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Rejecting the request, the court ruled that the IHC judges’ appeal was dismissed on grounds of non-prosecution, noting that none of the judges appeared before the court.

The case pertained to the transfer of three judges from other high courts to the Islamabad High Court— an administrative move that the Supreme Court, in June, had declined to declare unconstitutional.

The five IHC judges later filed intra-court appeals challenging that decision.

Similarly, intra-court appeals filed by the Lahore High Court Bar, PTI’s founder, Tahir Faraz Abbasi, the Karachi Bar Association, Riasat Ali Azad and Shoaib Shaheen were also dismissed for non-prosecution.

The Federal Constitutional Court further rejected a request seeking permission to meet or receive instructions from the founder of PTI.

Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan said the court could not issue such an order, advising the petitioners to approach the relevant forum where the sentence was handed down.