Justice Jahangiri | Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari, on early Friday morning, approved the de-notification of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as a judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the advice of the prime minister. “The president has approved the de-notification of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as judge, Islamabad High Court, on the advice of the prime minister, in compliance with the IHC verdict and in accordance with the Constitution and law,” a statement from the President’s Secretariat said. IHC judgement The IHC ruling on Thursday said Justice Jahangiri’s elevation to the superior court “without lawful authority” and 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 judgement, which was earlier reserved, on a plea that challenged the legitimacy of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree and appointment as a judge. A short written order of the court, available with Dawn, said at the time of Justice Jahangi...

Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri moved the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday, seeking the setting aside of an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that declared a plea challenging the legitimacy of his law degree maintainable. He also sought the dismissal of the plea, which also calls into question the appointment of the IHC judge, “for being non-maintainable”. The plea, filed by lawyer Mian Dawood, was declared maintainable by a division bench, led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, on December 9. Justice Jahangiri filed a petition against the order in the FCC on Wednesday, in which he has nominated Dawood, the Federation of Pakistan, president of Pakistan, Judicial Commission of Pakistan, parliamentary committee on judges’ appointment to superior courts, Higher Education Commission, University of Karachi (KU) and a lawyer named Siraj Ahmad as respondents. He contended that the IHC order on maintaibility of the case, a September 16 order that barred him fr...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has turned down Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s objections on a division bench, led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, hearing challenges to the legitimacy of his law degree and appointment as a judge, it emerged on Tuesday. The objections were raised by Justice Jahangiri, also an IHC judge, during the hearing of the petition challenging his qualification on Monday, with CJ Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan presiding over the proceedings. The same bench previously also barred Justice Jahangiri from judicial work in September in the case, but the order was later set aside by the Supreme Court (SC). Justice Jahangiri had appeared in person before the bench yesterday and presented his arguments. A court order issued after the hearing, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said he had raised preliminary objections on the constitution of a division bench instead of a single bench to hear lawyer Mian Dawood’s petition. Moreover, Justice Jahangiri “expressed his no ...

ISLAMABAD: Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri is likely to appear as a defendant before the Isla­mabad High Court (IHC) to face accusations that surfaced in a petition that challenged his appointment over a controversy related to his law degree. A division bench comprising Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan will take up the matter for further proceedings on Monday (tomorrow). In a detailed written order issued on Dec 9, the IHC held that the question regarding the validity of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree fell squarely within the scope of a writ of quo warranto — his right to hold public office. The two-member bench ruled that the petition was maintainable and set aside the office objection earlier raised by the registrar. The bench had also gra­nted Justice Jahangiri thr­ee days to respond to the facts unearthed till date. The registrar’s office served the notice at the judge’s chamber due to time constraints. Sources said court staff of Justice Jaha...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared on Tuesday a petition seeking the verification of Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s degree maintainable and sought a reply from the judge on the matter within three days. The petition questioning the legitimacy of the LLB degree of the IHC judge and seeking a judicial determination on whether he lawfully held office as a high court judge was filed by lawyer Mian Daud. The court had reserved its decision on the maintainability of the plea in July last year. The case against Justice Jahangiri centres on a letter that began circulating last year on social media, purportedly from the University of Karachi’s controller of examinations, regarding the judge’s law degree. A two-member IHC bench, comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, issued the verdict today after hearing arguments on the matter. During the hearing, Ahmed Hassan Shah, who was representing the District Bar Association, contended that the matter should be referred to the Is...

• Commission directed to appoint senior officer for court’s assistance • Petitioner told KU will be notified later ISLAMABAD: A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday sought relevant record from the Higher Education Commission (HEC) regarding the law degree of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Mohammad Azam Khan resumed the hearing of a petition filed by lawyer Mian Dawood. Representatives of the legal fraternity, along with amicus curiae Barrister Zaffarullah Khan, also appeared before the bench. During the proceedings, the petitioner urged the court to summon the academic record directly from Karachi University (KU), contending that the LLB degree of Justice Jahangiri had been cancelled by the university. The Sindh High Court (SHC), on a petition filed by Justice Jahangiri, had suspended KU’s order regarding the degree’s cancellation. Chief Justice Dogar observed that since the HEC was the regulatory au...

ISLAMABAD: One of the three Islamabad High Court judges who packed up their chambers earlier this week is considering submitting his resignation next week, as uncertainty deepens in the judiciary following the 27th Amendment. Sources told Dawn that Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri is likely to tender his resignation early next week. He is also expected to visit the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) on Dec 2, a day before key developments in his pending degree-related case. Justice Jahangiri is among the three IHC judges who removed their personal effects from the high court building over the past week as rumours intensified regarding their possible resignations following sweeping constitutional changes introduced through the 27th Amendment. The three judges — Justices Jahangiri, Babar Sattar and Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan — had reportedly packed their belongings and shifted them home. According to the sources, Justice Jahangiri removed all books, documents, decorative items and other personal effects fr...

Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro on Tuesday recused himself from hearing the case challenging the eligibility of Justice Tariq Meh­mo­­od Jahangiri. A complaint pertaining to Justice Jahangiri’s allegedly fake law degree was submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council last year in July, while a petition challenging his appointment was filed in the IHC last year. The matter centres on a letter that began circulating last year on social media, purportedly from the University of Karachi’s (KU) controller of examinations, regarding the judge’s degree. Today, a two-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Soomro, took up a miscellaneous application filed by the Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) seeking to become a party in the matter. During the proceedings, Justice Soomro recused himself from hearing the case, following which the bench stood dissolved, and the hearing was adjourned without any further proceedings. His decision comes after a division bench hearing a wr...

Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri on Thursday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Sindh High Court’s ruling on his degree and seeking to have the verdict declared “null and void”. In his petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Justice Jahangiri contended that the SHC “dismissed my application to become a party to the case”, adding that passing a “one-sided order without hearing the affected party is contrary to law”. On September 16, the IHC had restrained Justice Jahangiri from exercising his judicial powers as a two-judge bench issued the interim order while hearing a writ petition filed under Article 199 of the Constitution. Justice Jahangiri then challenged the decision in the SC, pleading for the restraining order to be set aside. The judge further argued that the SHC “ignored the question of maintainability of the petition”. According to the petition, the IHC judge urged the apex court that his appeal “may graciously be granted and after granting leave t...

Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri has approached the Supreme Court for an early hearing of his plea challenging the September 16 restraining order that barred him from performing judicial functions after a divisional IHC bench raised serious questions about the validity of his law degree from Karachi University (KU), it emerged on Tuesday. A complaint pertaining to Justice Jahangiri’s allegedly fake degree was submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council last year in July while a petition challenging his appointment was filed in the IHC earlier this year. The matter centres on a letter that began circulating last year on social media, purportedly from KU’s controller of examinations, regarding the judge’s law degree. In an extraordinary development last week, the IHC had restrained Justice Jahangiri from exercising his judicial powers as a two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar and comprising Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, issued the interim order while hearing a ...

ISLAMABAD: Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri has also challenged the Sept 16 restraining order that barred him from performing judicial functions after a division bench raised serious questions about the validity of his law degree from Karachi University. Filed by Justice Jahangiri in person, the appeal before the Supreme Court pleaded for the Sept 16 restraining order to be set aside and suspended during the pendency of the petition, and for the division bench to be directed to hold back from proceeding further. The two-judge IHC bench, headed by Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar alongside Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, had issued the interim order while hearing a writ petition filed by lawyer Mian Dawood under Article 199 of the Constitution. The petition sought a writ of quo warranto, questioning “by what authority” Justice Jahangiri held judicial office. In his appeal under Article 185(3), Justice Jahangiri cited the 2010 Iftikhar Chaudhry case, in which the SC had held that the Constitution did not ...

An Islamabad High Court (IHC) bench, led by Chief Justice (CJ) Sar­dar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar and comprising Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, barred Justice Tariq Mah­mood Jahangiri from carrying out judicial work until the Supreme Judicial Council’s (SJC) decision on the matter of his allegedly fake degree. A complaint pertaining to Justice Jahangiri’s allegedly fake degree was submitted to the SJC last year in July while a petition challenging his appointment was filed in the IHC earlier this year. The matter centres on a letter that began circulating last year on social media, purportedly from the University of Karachi’s controller of examinations, regarding the judge’s law degree. During the hearing today, apart from barring Justice Jahangiri from carrying out judicial work, the bench also appointed lawyers Barrister Zafarullah Khan and Ashtar Ausaf as amici curiae. Moreover, the bench also sought the attorney general’s assistance over the matter of the maintainability of the plea. It ruled that the case would...