Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri has appealed to the Supreme Court for an expedited hearing of his challenge against a September 16 order that barred him from judicial duties. The restraining order was issued after an IHC divisional bench raised serious questions regarding the validity of his law degree from Karachi University.
The controversy surrounding Justice Jahangiri’s credentials first emerged last year when a complaint about an “allegedly fake degree” was submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council in July. This was followed by a separate petition challenging his appointment filed in the IHC earlier this year. The matter gained public attention after a letter, purportedly from Karachi University’s controller of examinations regarding the judge’s law degree, began circulating on social media last year.
In an extraordinary development last week, an IHC two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar and including Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, issued an interim order temporarily suspending Justice Jahangiri from his judicial functions. This occurred during the hearing of a writ petition filed by lawyer Mian Dawood under Article 199 of the Constitution. Justice Jahangiri personally challenged this decision in the Supreme Court last Friday, pleading for the restraining order to be set aside and suspended, and for the division bench to be directed to halt further proceedings.
Subsequently, the judge filed an application for an early hearing through his advocate, Syed Rifaqat Hussain Shah. The application, a copy of which was obtained by Dawn.com, argues that a high court judge cannot legally be barred from performing judicial functions, citing a “settled position” in law. It emphasizes that the case raises “important questions of law relating to the functioning of a judge of the high court and the independence of the judiciary,” making urgent intervention by the Supreme Court necessary.
The application further contended that the restraining order could “open the floodgates to litigation” where any complaint or petition against a judge could prevent them from working. It also argued that the order was passed without considering the lawyer Mian Dawood’s genuine intent in filing the petition, and crucially, without affording Justice Jahangiri an opportunity to present his defense. The judge highlighted that time lost due to the operation of such an order cannot be regained, as judges serve only until a specific retirement age.
Justice Jahangiri has requested that his petition be scheduled for a hearing this week. This particular case is one of several controversies currently affecting the Islamabad High Court. Just last Friday, five of its judges — Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Babar Sattar, Jahangiri, Saman Rafat Imtiaz, and Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan — collectively submitted separate petitions to the Supreme Court, addressing various concerns ranging from the composition of benches and judicial rosters to case transfers within the court.
