ISLAMABAD:
Next week – on December 9 – an authorized official of the University of Karachi “fully aware of the facts” regarding the LLB degree of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri will appear before the IHC along with the original record regarding his degree.
The amicus curiae appointed by the court will also present arguments on the same day on the maintenance of the quo warranto petition accusing the judge of having a dubious legal degree.
Based on the record and the arguments advanced, the court will decide whether the petition is maintainable, said an order issued by the court in respect of the case dated December 2.
While hearing the petition filed by Mian Dawood Advocate, an IHC bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan on December 2 ordered the High Education Commission (HEC) to submit the judge’s educational record.
In its order, the bench noted that it requisitioned the original record of Justice Jahangiri from the University of Karachi through the HEC “without touching the merits of the case at this stage.”
Interestingly, a larger bench of the Supreme Court — while hearing petitions filed against a September order of the same bench barring Jahangiri from official duties — ordered the IHC to first decide whether the quo warranto petition was maintainable.
Some experts are of the view that a High Court cannot hear a petition filed against a sitting judge as the proper forum to hear such a complaint is the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
The division bench, comprising Justice Dogar and Justice Khan, on September 16 stopped Jahangiri from performing his duties when it issued notices on the petition filed by Mian Dawood Advocate.
The bench also sought the assistance of Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan on the issue of maintainability of the petition. It also appointed senior advocates Barrister Zafarullah Khan and Ashtar Ali Ausaf as amici curiae.
The bench observed that until the SJC decided the case, the judge could not hear cases. The IHC judge and a number of his colleagues had later moved the Supreme Court, which on September 30 set aside the division bench’s interim order.
Last year, the syndicate of the University of Karachi canceled the degree of IHC judge. On September 25, the university also issued a statement confirming its syndicate’s decision.
