Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday declared the appointment of Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri illegal and directed the Ministry of Law and Justice to de-notify him as a judge.
The Islamabad High Court, while issuing its decision, said that Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri did not have a valid degree at the time of his appointment.
In its decision, the High Court ordered the removal of Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri from office, saying that he was not eligible to hold the position of judge.
A two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Sarfaraz Dogar and Justice Azam Khan delivered the decision. The order said that Justice Jahangiri’s LLB degree was not valid when he was appointed as a High Court judge.
The court ruled that Justice Tariq Jahangiri was not eligible to become a judge of the Islamabad High Court, and all miscellaneous petitions were disposed of.
Justice Tariq Jahangiri left the Islamabad High Court half before the verdict was pronounced.
Earlier, the Justice Jahangiri degree dispute case was heard. After hearing the arguments of the lawyers, the judges left for the chambers. Barrister Salahuddin, Akram Sheikh, Raja Aleem Abbasi and others gave arguments. Petitioner Mian Dawood Advocate and Barrister Salahuddin also gave arguments on two petitions and Akram Sheikh gave arguments on one petition.
Barrister Salahuddin requested to postpone the case indefinitely and took the position that 30 days were given to submit the response; this matter is under the jurisdiction of the Sindh High Court, it is not hearable before this court.
He said that I am not giving arguments on merit, I am only giving arguments on my applications.
Barrister Salahuddin said that propaganda has been going on for one and a half years that the degree is fake, today, the Registrar of Karachi University admitted here that he was present in LLB Part-I to Part-III.
He said that the Registrar of Karachi University has said that there was an irregularity in the process of his degree.
Barrister Salahuddin said that Karachi University admitted that the degree was issued and cancelled. The Registrar of Karachi University admitted that this is not a case of a fake degree but of cancellation due to irregularity.
He argued that it is yet to be decided whether Karachi University is telling the truth after 40 years or not. The Registrar of Karachi University did not object to the stay order before the Sindh High Court.
Barrister Salahuddin said that Karachi University submitted a response to the court, but hid that the Sindh High Court had suspended the declaration. A contempt of court petition has been filed against the Registrar of Karachi University in the Sindh High Court for hiding the facts. The Sindh High Court has suspended all proceedings, including the declaration of Karachi University.
Barrister Salahuddin argued that this court cannot proceed with the case in this situation.
The Chief Justice asked Barrister Salahuddin whether he had not submitted the response yet. Barrister Salahuddin replied that we received the HEC record at 3 pm yesterday.
The Chief Justice said that you have submitted the response to the Sindh High Court, but why are you not doing it here?
After hearing the lawyers’ arguments, the judges left for the chambers. Later, the court announced the verdict declaring Justice Jahangiri’s appointment as illegal.
