On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court ordered the immediate removal of one of its own judges after finding that his law degree did not meet the legal requirements at the time of his appointment. The decision, delivered by a division bench, brings to a close a challenge that questioned the very eligibility of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri to occupy judicial office and directs the executive to formally denotify him without delay.
Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri was appointed as a Judge of the Islamabad High Court in September 2020. The controversy surrounding his appointment surfaced in July last year when a lawyer, Mian Dawood, filed a petition challenging the validity of Jahangiri’s law degree obtained from the University of Karachi in 1989.
The plea was examined by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Azam Khan, which ultimately delivered its decision on Thursday. The bench dealt with the challenge to the validity of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree and the consequential impact on his eligibility to hold judicial office.
The petition asserted that Justice Jahangiri did not possess a valid law degree and was, therefore, legally disqualified from appointment and continuance as a judge of the High Court. During the proceedings, the Court took note of serious procedural lapses on the respondent’s part. As recorded, “despite ample opportunities” Justice Jahangiri “failed to submit a reply or produce valid educational credentials, compelling the court to proceed with the matter on the basis of the available record.”
In a parallel development, Justice Jahangiri accused Chief Justice Dogar of being “biased” against him and approached the Federal Constitutional Court, seeking to set aside a recent decision of the Islamabad High Court to entertain the petition challenging his degree.
The turning point in the proceedings came with the production of official records by the University of Karachi. Registrar Imran Siddiqui informed the court that the university syndicate had cancelled Justice Jahangiri’s degree, holding that it had been “secured through unfair means.”
The record placed before the bench stated that “Justice Jahangiri was found cheating and creating disturbance in an examination hall in 1988,” following which he was debarred from appearing in examinations until 1992. The registrar further alleged that, contrary to this decision, Jahangiri appeared in an examination in 1989 under a changed name.
On the basis of this material, the Bench concluded that the defect went to the root of eligibility and could not be cured post-appointment.
Allowing the petition, the Islamabad High Court held that Justice Jahangiri ceased to hold office forthwith for “having an invalid law degree at the time of his appointment and confirmation as a judge.” The Court directed the Ministry of Law to issue a formal notification denotifying him as a judge of the High Court.
Disclaimer: This news/ article includes information received via a syndicated news feed. The original rights remain with the respective publisher.
Picture Source :
