The Sindh High Court on Friday suspended a notification issued by the University of Karachi (KU) that cancelled the law degree of Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri.
The court’s decision came during the hearing of a petition filed by Justice Jahangiri on Monday impugning the decisions of the KU’s Unfair Means Committee (UMC) and Syndicate, which cancelled his degree in August last year.
The KU registrar, the Sindh advocate general and others appeared before the court as it took up the plea today. They sought more time for submitting their replies on the plea, saying that they had received notices pertaining to the case yesterday.
At that, Justice Iqbal Kalhoro remarked, “We are ready to give more time but what if any action is taken against the petitioner during this time? If we accept your request today and any action is taken tomorrow, who will take responsibility in that case?”
He further enquired whether the respondents had issued any notice to Jahangiri before “taking action against him”.
Noting that questions were being raised on Justice Jahangiri’s degree, the Justice Kalhoro added that he should have been issued a notice if an application was moved against him 30 to 35 years after the issuance of his degree.
Judge Kalhoro further stated, “We are not saying that action cannot be taken against him because the law allows it … [but] how can we put someone’s honour at stake? Someone’s life-long earning is at stake here.”
The court then adjourned the hearing, seeking replies from respondents on October 24.
The petition
In his petition, Justice Jahangiri contended that the “illegal and mala fide” cancellation of his LLB degree occurred in the context of his “unflinching judicial independence”.
Justice Jahangiri claimed that when the campaign to have him removed through the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) failed, “a new strategy” was adopted by misusing official processes and institutions. He said the degree cancellation became the basis for the IHC’s decision to restrain him from judicial duties.
He described the KU Unfair Means Committee’s decision as “shocking and surprising,” noting that the committee revived the issue after 32 years without issuing him a notice or providing reasons.
Fake degree controversy
The controversy pertaining to Justice Jahangiri’s law degree began with a letter that was circulated on social media last year, purportedly from the KU’s examinations regarding the validity of the degree, leading to the subsequent filing of a reference with the SJC.
The letter was reportedly a response from KU to an application seeking information under the Sindh Transparency Right to Information Act, 2016.
It stated that candidate Tariq Mehmood obtained his LLB degree in 1991 under enrolment number 5968. However, Imtiaz Ahmed enrolled in 1987 under the same enrolment number, while the transcript for LLB Part I was issued under the name Tariq Jahangiri.
Moreover, Tariq Mehmood enrolled for LLB Part I under enrolment number 7124. The letter did not declare the degree bogus but termed it invalid, explaining that the university issues one enrolment number for the entire degree programme, making it impossible for a student to have two enrolment numbers for one programme.
On July 10, 2024, the IHC ruled that the “scurrilous campaign” aimed to malign the judge amounted to an attempt to bring the “Court into hatred, ridicule and disrespect and, prima facie, qualifies as contempt of Court.”
As the degree accusations came to light, a writ petition was filed, requesting the court to stop Justice Jahangiri from exercising judicial powers till the verification of his LLB degree. The then-IHC chief justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition filed by the lawyer.
At the time, the SC registrar’s office also had raised objections to the petition on grounds that the petitioner was not an aggrieved person and the matter was already pending before the SJC.
On September 1, 2024, the syndicate of KU cancelled Justice Jahangiri’s degree and enrollment, on the recommendation of its UFM Committee, varsity officials said.
The decision came a few hours after the detention of academic and syndicate member Riaz Ahmed, who was picked up by police in what appeared to be an attempt to stop him from attending the key meeting. He was released in the evening only after the syndicate decided to cancel the degree.
Then, on Sept 5 2024, the SHC suspended KU’s decision to revoke the law degree of Justice Jahangiri, after a petition against KU’s cancellation was filed. The court found that the university’s syndicate had taken the action in Justice Jahangiri’s absence, depriving him of the opportunity to defend himself.
To this, KU responded that the unfair means committee and the syndicate were of the opinion that there was enough evidence against the judge, and deemed it appropriate not to hear him in person.
On Sept 16, the IHC took up the matter and a two-member bench led by IHC CJ Dogar and comprising Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, barred Justice Jahangiri from carrying out judicial work until the SJC decision on the matter of his allegedly fake degree, which Justice Jahangiri appealed against in the Supreme Court (SC). The IHC decision was declared “null and void” by the SC on Sept 30.
Separately, on Sept 25, a two-judge SHC bench declined to entertain the plea by Justice Jahangiri to become a party in proceedings on petitions challenging the cancellation of his law degree. As lawyers protested the move, the bench also dismissed the set of pleas against the cancellation of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree for “non-prosecution”.
On Thursday, Justice Jahangiri moved the SC, challenging the SHC ruling of dismissing his application.
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