.
ISLAMABAD:
The newly constituted bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which was supposed to resume hearing of a plea accusing IHC judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of having a dubious LLB degree, is also dissolved.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, on September 16 restrained Justice Jahangiri from discharging his duties by issuing notices on the petition filed by advocate Mian Dawood.
The IHC judge and several of his colleagues then appealed to the Supreme Court, which on September 30 annulled the provisional order of the division chamber.
Meanwhile, the bench has been reconstituted with Justice Khadim Hussian Soomro replacing Justice Muhammad Azam Khan. On Tuesday, the bench was supposed to hear a plea filed by the Islamabad District Bar Association to become a party to the case.
However, when the court resumed hearing the case, Justice Soomro recused himself citing personal reasons. This led to the dissolution of the judiciary which will now be reconstituted in the next hearing.
Last year, the Karachi University union canceled the IHC judge degree. On September 25, after the IHC blocked the judge from carrying out his duties, the university also issued a notice confirming its union’s decision.
The university registrar said Tariq Mahmood, son of Qazi Muhammad Akram, was convicted of using unfair means in the late 1980s.
“[He] was debarred for three years from taking admission in any university or college and appearing for university examination under Exclusion Circular No. 88 of 1989 and was never a student of Islamia Law College, Karachi.
“As per the union meeting held on 31st August, 2024 by Resolution No. 06, LLB results and degree of Tariq Mehmood bearing seat No. 22857; Registration No. AIL-7124/87 is hereby withdrawn and cancelled,” it added.
The Sindh High Court, however, stayed the notification of Karachi University on October 3.
