The Supreme Court on Monday suspended an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order barring Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri from judicial work while the matter of his contested law degree was pending before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
A five-member bench of the apex court’s constitutional bench issued notices to relevant parties, including the office of the attorney general of Pakistan, and adjourned the case hearing until tomorrow (Sept. 30).
Earlier this month, a two-member bench of the IHC led by Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar had barred Justice Jahangiri from performing judicial duties until the SJC’s decision on a petition pending against him. Last week, five judges of the IHC—Justices Jahangiri, Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Babar Sattar, Saman Rifat and Ejaz Ishaq Khan—had filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court against the order.
Last year, the University of Karachi’s syndicate had acted on the recommendation of the Unfair Means Committee and ruled that Justice Jahangiri had a “fake” LLB degree. The Sindh High Court had subsequently stayed the ruling until last week, when it was taken up again and the stay order vacated. Subsequently, the university withdrew and suspended Justice Jahangiri’s degree. In a notification issued on Sept. 25, the university said Justice Jahangiri had never been enrolled as a student at Islamia Law College, Karachi, in 1989.