Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that former judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri was never lawfully appointed, declaring his law degree invalid and describing his elevation to the bench as a “legal nullity.”
The decision was issued in a detailed 116-page judgement on Monday by a division bench headed by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar along with Justice Muhammad Azam Khan. The ruling relied heavily on original academic records obtained from the University of Karachi.
According to the judgement, Jahangiri’s LL.B. degree was acquired through impersonation and misuse of enrollment numbers. Court records revealed that he first appeared in the 1988 LL.B. Part-I examination using a fake enrollment number. After being caught and debarred for three years, he reportedly reappeared in 1990 using another student’s enrollment details and later attempted Part-II examinations under yet another number.
The principal of Government Islamia Law College informed the court that Jahangiri had never been formally admitted to the institution. The bench described this revelation as particularly damaging, emphasizing that a degree invalid from the outset cannot be legitimized through administrative or procedural steps later.
The judgement also criticized Jahangiri’s conduct during the proceedings, noting repeated requests for the recusal of the chief justice, multiple adjournment pleas, and demands for the formation of a full court. The bench termed these actions as “dilatory tactics” and “bench-hunting.”
The court further clarified that mere apprehension of bias is insufficient grounds for the recusal of a chief justice, stating that the authority to constitute benches rests solely with the chief justice. Jahangiri’s failure to provide primary academic documents shifted the burden of proof onto him, and his inability to do so resulted in an adverse inference by the court.
