The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled on Thursday that Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s elevation to the superior court was “without lawful authority”, declaring that he “ceased to hold” the office of the IHC judge forthwith.
A division bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the judgement, which was reserved earlier in the day, on a plea that challenged the legitimacy of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree and appointment as a judge.
A short written order of the court said at the time of Justice Jahangiri’s appointment as an additional judge of the IHC, “as well as at the time of his confirmation as a judge of the Islamabad High Court, he was not holding a valid LLB degree, which is a prerequisite for enrolment as an advocate”.
“When he could not be considered as an advocate, then consequently he was not eligible for elevation as a judge of a high court in terms of the requirements of Article 175-A of the Constitution,” it added.
On the basis of this observation, the court ruled that Justice Jahangiri’s elevation to the IHC was “without lawful authority, as he was not eligible to be elevated as a judge of a high court”.
“Thus, he ceased to hold the office of the judge of Islamabad High Court forthwith.”
The court also directed the law ministry to denotify him as a judge of the IHC.
“All the pending miscellaneous applications are also disposed of,” it added.
The bench’s decision comes a day after Justice Jahangiri accused CJ Dogar of being “biased” against him and requested the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) to set aside the recent IHC decision to hear a petition challenging his law degree. The same day, he also filed a formal complaint before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) – the top forum for judicial accountability that probes allegations of misconduct against judges – against the chief justice.
Prior to the issuance of the judgement, University of Karachi (KU) Registrar Imran Ahmed Siddiqui submitted a record of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree to the court.
He said the KU syndicate had cancelled the judge’s degree for having been “secured through unfair means”.
“Justice Jahangiri was found cheating and creating disturbance in an examination hall in 1988,” following which he was debarred from sitting an exam until 1992, he said.
However, instead of complying with the decision, the judge appeared in an exam in 1989 under a changed name, the registrar alleged.
He also submitted a log pertaining to marksheets and results to justify the KU syndicate’s decision.
During his arguments, Advocate Muhammad Akram Sheikh, who was representing Justice Jahangiri, objected to the bench hearing the case.
He contended that a judge who faced legal proceedings could not hear the petition involving a fellow judge, who had challenged his posting.
Barrister Salahuddin Ahmad, who was also representing Justice Jahangiri, requested more time from the court to submit a reply.
For his part, the petitioner in the case, lawyer Mian Dawood, alleged that Justice Jahangiri had “misused” the SHC stay order. “Instead of clearing his name […] the judge has been filing petitions and scandalising his chief justice,” he commented.
According to the court’s short written order, the bench observed that it had given “ample opportunity” to Justice Jahangiri to submit his reply along with disputed education credentials, “but he failed to do so for the reasons best known to him”.
“As such, this court has left with no other option but to proceed further in the matter.”
The court also observed that the qualification to hold the office of a high court judge “is personal to the individual and has no nexus with the performance of duties as a court or as a member of the court”.
“The qualifications for appointment of judges of the superior courts are duly provided in the Constitution. Possession of the qualifications prescribed under the Constitution is sine qua non (requirement) for an individual to hold the office of a judge of a superior court,” it said.
The court order further stated that during the case’s proceedings, it had heard arguments from counsel for the contesting parties, the representatives of the Islamabad Bar Council, IHC and Islamabad District Bar Associations, and perused the record with their able assistance.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) has announced a strike for today in protest against the ruling declaring the appointment of Justice Tariq Jahangiri null and void.