The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday suspended an order issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) barring Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri from carrying out judicial duties in a case pertaining to his law degree allegedly being fake.
The court also issued notices to the respondents in the case as well as the attorney general of Pakistan and adjourned the hearing till tomorrow.
A complaint pertaining to Justice Jahangiri’s allegedly fake degree was submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council (SKC) last year in July, while a petition challenging his appointment was filed in the IHC earlier this year. The matter centres on a letter that began circulating last year on social media, purportedly from the University of Karachi’s controller of examinations, regarding the judge’s law degree.
On September 16, the IHC had restrained Justice Jahangiri from exercising his judicial powers as a two-judge bench issued the interim order while hearing a writ petition filed under Article 199 of the Constitution. Justice Jahangiri then challenged the decision in the SC, pleading for the restraining order to be set aside and suspended during the pendency of the petition, and for the division bench to be directed to hold back from proceeding further.
Today, a five-member bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, and including Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan took up Justice Jahangiri’s petition.
Justice Jahangiri’s lawyer, Munir Malik, addressed the bench, noting that this was the first instance that “a two-member judge has prevented a judge of its own high court from judicial work”.
Also present at today’s hearing were Justice Jahangiri himself, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
More to follow.
