Jahangiri | Pakistan

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) extended on Monday an interim order that suspended a Karachi University (KU) syndicate and Unfair Means Commi­ttee’s declaration cancelling the law degree of former justice Tariq Mehmood Jahnagiri, who was removed as an Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge last week. Jahangiri has found himself mired in a fake degree controversy since last year and has been facing legal proceedings in the SHC and IHC over the matter. While an IHC division bench, led by Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, ruled on December 18 that his degree was “invalid” and his elevation to the high court was “without lawful authority”, the SHC extended today its order under which KU’s August 2024 decision to cancel his degree remains suspended. The order has been suspended until the next hearing, the date for which will be decided later. The decision was taken by a two-judge bench, comprising Justices Yousuf Ali Saeed and Abdul Mobeen Lakho, as it heard a contempt plea filed against the KU Vice Chancellor (...

Jahangiri faces uphill legal battle

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled on Thursday that Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s elevation to the superior court was “without lawful authority”, declaring that he “ceased to hold” the office of the IHC judge forthwith. A division bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the judgment, which was reserved earlier today, on a plea that challenged the legitimacy of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree and appointment as a judge. Political figures and lawyers came out and assailed the IHC ruling, stating that the “case and bench had no merit to be heard”, while standing in solidarity with Jahangiri. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan called Jahangiri’s removal an “unprecedented and troubling move” in a post on X. “I take strong exception to the order. It further erodes judicial independence,” he wrote. “The constitutional oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution becomes meaningless if judges are unable to protect and defend themselves within th...

The Sindh High Court on Friday suspended a notification issued by the University of Karachi (KU) that cancelled the law degree of Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri. The court’s decision came during the hearing of a petition filed by Justice Jahangiri on Monday impugning the decisions of the KU’s Unfair Means Committee (UMC) and Syndicate, which cancelled his degree in August last year. The KU registrar, the Sindh advocate general and others appeared before the court as it took up the plea today. They sought more time for submitting their replies on the plea, saying that they had received notices pertaining to the case yesterday. At that, Justice Iqbal Kalhoro remarked, “We are ready to give more time but what if any action is taken against the petitioner in this duration? If we accept your request today and any action is taken tomorrow, who will take responsibility in that case?” He further enquired whether the respondents had issued any notice to Jahangiri before “taking action aga...