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\u2019s (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri. The court\u2019s decision came during the hearing of a petition filed by Justice Jahangiri on Monday impugning the decisions of the KU\u2019s 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, \u201cWe are ready to give more time but what if any action is taken against the petitioner in this duration? If we accept your request today and any action is taken tomorrow, who will take responsibility in that case?\u201d He further enquired whether the respondents had issued any notice to Jahangiri before \u201ctaking action against him\u201d. Noting that questions were being raised on Justice Jahangiri\u2019s degree, Justice Kalhoro observed 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. He further stated, \u201cWe are not saying that action cannot be taken against him because the law allows it \u2026 [but] how can we put someone\u2019s honour at stake? Someone\u2019s life-long earning is at stake here.\u201d The court then adjourned the hearing, seeking replies from respondents on October 24. The petition In his petition, Justice Jahangiri contended that the \u201cillegal and mala fide\u201d cancellation of his LLB degree occurred in the context of his \u201cunflinching judicial independence\u201d. Justice Jahangiri claimed that when the campaign to have him removed through the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) failed, \u201ca new strategy\u201d was adopted by misusing official processes and institutions. He said the degree cancellation became the basis for the IHC\u2019s decision to restrain him from judicial duties. He described the KU Unfair Means Committee\u2019s decision as \u201cshocking and surprising,\u201d 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\u2019s law degree began with a letter that was circulated on social media last year, purportedly from the KU\u2019s 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 \u201cscurrilous campaign\u201d aimed to malign the judge amounted to an attempt to bring the \u201cCourt into hatred, ridicule and disrespect and, prima facie, qualifies as contempt of Court.\u201d As the degree accusations came to light, a writ petition was filed, requesting the court to stop Justice Jahangiri from ex\u00ad\u00ad\u00adercising 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\u2019s office also had raised objections to the petition on grounds that the petitioner was not an aggrieved per\u00ad\u00adson and the matter was alr\u00adeady pending before the SJC. On September 1, 2024, the syndicate of KU cancelled Justice Jahangiri\u2019s 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\u2019s decision to revoke the law degree of Justice Jahangiri, after a petition against KU\u2019s cancellation was filed. The court found that the university\u2019s syndicate had taken the action in Justice Jahangiri\u2019s 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 \u201cnull and void\u201d by the SC on Sept 30. Separately, on Sept 25, a two-judge SHC bench dec\u00adlined 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\u2019s law degree for \u201cnon-prosecution\u201d. On Thursday, Justice Jahangiri moved the SC, challenging the SHC ruling of dismissing his application.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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