Sindh High Court Suspends University of Karachi’s Notification Regarding IHC Judge’s Degree

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has put a stop to the University of Karachi’s (KU) directive that revoked the law degree of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, a judge at the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

A bench of the SHC, which included Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Mohammad Abdur Rahman, also prevented the university from taking any further actions against the judge based on the recommendations of the Syndicate and Fairmen’s Committee. This decision was made while hearing a petition submitted by Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of the IHC.

The IHC judge petitioned the SHC to have the University of Karachi’s notification regarding the annulment of his degree declared invalid.

Professor Imran Siddiqui, the Registrar of the University of Karachi, was present in court during the hearing and requested time to provide a response.

Professor Siddiqui stated, “We received the notice the day before yesterday,” and requested additional time to respond.

Justice Kalhoro inquired, “How much time do you need to submit a reply?”

Barrister Salahuddin, representing Justice Jahangiri, asked the court to suspend the KU’s notification until a response was submitted.

The court granted the KU registrar professor’s request for more time and postponed the hearing.

The SHC’s recent ruling follows a number of hearings regarding the controversy surrounding Justice Jahangiri’s LLB degree. On September 16, a division bench of the IHC barred him from carrying out his judicial duties. The IHC bench, which was presided over by Chief Justice (CJ) Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and included Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, issued the directives in response to a petition submitted by Mian Dawood.

On September 20, Justice Jahangiri and four other IHC judges petitioned the Supreme Court separately in response to the IHC’s decision to prevent Justice Jahangiri from performing judicial duties.

Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Babar Sattar, Saman Rifat, and Ejaz Ishaq Khan were the other four IHC judges.

Justice Kiyani appealed to the SC to rule that administrative powers cannot be used to undermine or trump the judicial authority of high court judges.

Justice Kiyani pleaded with the SC to rule that a high court’s chief justice is not permitted to form benches or transfer cases once a bench of the high court has taken cognizance of the matter.

On September 29, the Supreme Court overturned the IHC’s ruling prohibiting Justice Jahangiri from performing judicial duties.

The Supreme Court’s five-member constitutional bench, presided over by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, also issued notices to relevant parties, including the Attorney General of Pakistan’s office.

Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Shahid Bilal Hassan were also on the bench.

The case revolves around the dispute over Justice Jahangiri’s LLB degree, which the University of Karachi revoked last month.

According to the university’s notification dated September 25, the university syndicate authorized “Resolution No 06” at its meeting on August 31, 2024, in accordance with the competent authority’s decision, upholding the Unfair Means Committee’s (UFM) recommendation.

The notification stated, “Justice Jahangiri was found to have used unfair means and has been barred from being admitted to any university or college or from sitting for any university examination for a period of three years.”

The University of Karachi further stated that Justice Jahangiri was never a student at Islamia Law College in Karachi in 1989.