University of Karachi revokes IHC judge Tariq Jahangiri’s law degree

The University of Karachi (KU) has revoked the law degree of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and imposed a three-year ban on him, Aaj News reported on Friday.

The Karachi university’s registrar Imran Ahmed Siddiqui issued a notification of the degree’s cancellation.

The statement issued by the university said that the Unfair Mean’s Committee imposed a three-year ban on the judge’s taking admission and examination at the university for using unfair means, in addition to cancellation of his degree.

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In light of the decision of the Karachi University Syndicate meeting, the assistant registrar settlement has declared Jahangiri’s degree fake.

The notification clarified that Jahangiri was never a student of the Islamia Law College Karachi, hence, his enrollment number 7124/87 has been cancelled.

In July 2024, Mian Dawood filed a writ of quo warranto in the IHC with the request to probe Justice Jahangiri’s ‘fake law degree’. He had claimed that Justice Jahangiri’s appointment was unconstitutional due to an allegedly invalid degree.

Following which, an IHC bench earlier this month had barred the senior high court judge from performing judicial duties until the Supreme Judicial Council’s (SJC) decision in this regard.

The IHC judge then on September 19 had filed a civil petition, challenging the IHC Division Bench’s order.

Justice Jahangiri had contended that the impugned order is patently illegal, unprecedented in judicial history, and a near-fatal blow to the independence of the judiciary. He stated that the impugned order was passed in callous disregard of Articles 189 and 209(7) of the Constitution.

It may be recalled that during his appearance in the Sindh High Court (SHC) a day ago, Justice Jahangiri stated that it was the first time that a high court judge was standing in the dock as an accused. He had never received any notice from Karachi university, he had said.

Justice Jahangiri had told the court that his degree was absolutely valid and that he had personally taken the exams, adding that he had never been accused of corruption during his 34 years of service.

The case was heard by a two-member bench of the SHC, which included Justice Saman Rifaat, Justice KK Agha, the additional attorney general, advocate general Sindh, and lawyers from the University of Karachi.

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It should be noted that according to Justice Jahangiri’s profile on the IHC website, he received his law degree from Islamia Law College, affiliated with the University of Karachi, in 1991.

Justice Jahangiri was among the six judges of the IHC who wrote a joint letter to the Supreme Judicial Council in March last year, making serious allegations of interference by intelligence agencies, especially the ISI, in judicial matters.

Following a letter written by six judges of the IHC against intelligence agencies, a petition was filed by a citizen at the University of Karachi, requesting access to Justice Jahangiri’s academic record under Article 19 of the Constitution and the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2016.

Justice Jahangiri was part of the three-member bench of the IHC that rejected a petition to disqualify former prime minister Imran Khan for failing to declare Tyrian White as his daughter in his nomination papers.