Malicious drive against Justice Jahangiri: IHC full bench to hear contempt plea on 19th

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) full bench will hear contempt petition regarding the malicious campaign against Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri over his law degree on September 19.

The full bench, headed by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, and comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz will hear the contempt plea.

It is worth mentioning that Justice Jahangiri is among the six IHC judges who on March 25 wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) seeking guidance on the interference of intelligence agencies in judicial affairs. The complaint included allegations of spy cameras being detected at the entrance and in the bedroom of a judge, a matter that was reportedly conveyed to the chief justice but to no avail.

The IHC, on July 8, took up the matter to counter the drive against Justice Jahangiri on social media, and issued notices to journalists, Hassan Ayub Khan and Gharida Farooqui, as well as, social media activist Ammar Solangi.

They had shared a letter and an annexure from the KU to an application seeking information under the Sindh Transparency Right to Information Act, 2016, about the degree. The Court had also issued notices to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Over two months ago, a letter began circulating on social media, purportedly from the KU’s controller of examinations, regarding Justice Jahangiri’s law degree. A complaint has also been filed against the judge in the Supreme Judicial Council.

The Karachi University syndicate, on Saturday, on the recommendation of its Unfair Means (UFM) Committee, cancelled the degree and enrolment of a candidate, who was said to be Justice Jahangiri.

The decision came after hours-long detention of academic and syndicate member Dr Riaz Ahmed.

Ahmed alleged the move was an attempt to stop him from attending the syndicate’s key meeting where he said an IHC judge’s degree was to be discussed. Eluding from acknowledging the detention on Saturday, the police said a day later Ahmed was arrested over a 2017 case but let go after confusion was cleared.

The letter from KU stated that candidate Tariq Mehmood obtained his LLB degree in 1991 under enrolment number 5968. However, one Imtiaz Ahmed was enrolled in 1987 under the same enrolment number, while the transcript for LLB Part I was issued under the name of 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.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024