‘Fake degree’ issue: IHC restrains Justice Jahangiri from performing judicial work

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) restrained Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri from performing judicial work until the Supreme Judicial Council’s (SJC) decision on the matter of his allegedly fake degree.

On Tuesday, a two-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfaraz Dogar and Justice Azam Khan, heard the petition moved by an advocate Mian Dawood.

The bench also appointed two senior lawyers as judicial assistants, including Barrister Zafarullah Khan and former Attorney General Ashtar Ausafin in the case. In addition, the IHC issued a notice to the Attorney General of Pakistan, seeking his assistance on the admissibility of the petition.

During the hearing, the bench observed that the court has to consider an important question: whether a matter is under adjournment in the Supreme Judicial Council, and whether the high court can be approached on this matter.

Raja Aleem Abbasi, who was representing the Islamabad Bar Association, remarked, “We believe in the rule of law.” He added that bar associations were also stakeholders in the matter.

Justice Dogar observed that everyone has the right to a hearing and the court had to consider the objections to the petition by the registrar’s office.

Abbasi said that if the practice of filing such cases turned into trend, it could be “dangerous”. He argued that objections to the petition should be upheld.

Later, the bench restrained the judge from performing judicial work and deferred the hearing until the SJC’s decision in this matter.

Mian Dawood had challenged Justice Jahangiri’s appointment under Article 199 of the Constitution through a writ of quo warranto.

The writ of quo warranto is primarily based on the 1998 Supreme Court judgment in the Justice Sajjad Ali Shah case. The petition claimed that Justice Jahangiri’s appointment is unconstitutional due to an allegedly invalid degree and requested that his appointment be declared null and void.

The petitioner also requested a probe into his ‘fake law degree’ as he contended in the petition that the law degree by which Justice Jahangiri got qualified for his professional responsibility was fake.

According to the writ petition, there is concrete evidence that Justice Jahangiri’s degree was fake as he was attaching documents and evidence of forgery.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025