The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered the removal of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri from office after declaring that his appointment as a judge was unlawful due to the absence of a valid LLB degree at the time of his elevation.
The verdict was announced by a two-member bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar and comprising Justice Azam Khan.
The bench ruled that Justice Jahangiri did not meet the constitutional and legal requirements for judicial appointment, rendering his continuation in office untenable. The court directed the Ministry of Law and Justice to formally remove and de-notify him from the post.
The case stemmed from a long-standing controversy surrounding Justice Jahangiri’s academic credentials. His LLB degree had been cancelled by the University of Karachi (KU) following findings by its Unfair Means Committee (UFM).
According to a KU notification dated September 25, the university syndicate, in a meeting held on August 31, 2024, upheld Resolution No. 6, endorsing the committee’s recommendation to cancel the degree.
During the hearing, KU Registrar Imran Ahmed Siddiqui appeared before the court and presented the academic and regional records related to Justice Jahangiri. Siddiqui informed the bench that the principal of Islamia Law College had confirmed that Justice Jahangiri was never a student of the institution.
The registrar further stated that Justice Jahangiri was previously caught cheating, after which the UFM imposed a three-year ban on him for using unfair means and allegedly threatening an examiner. Although he was eligible to reappear in examinations in 1992, the registrar alleged that Justice Jahangiri instead used a fake enrolment form to obtain the degree.
He also highlighted discrepancies in the names used during LLB examinations and claimed that the enrolment number for LLB Part II was fabricated, with no corresponding record at the college.
However, Islamabad Bar Council lawyer Raja Aleem Abbasi informed the court that the cancellation of the degree had been suspended by the Sindh High Court, a point noted during proceedings.
