Seeks to overturn Dec. 18 de-notification of invalid law degree, claims legal requirements not met
ISLAMABAD:
Former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Tariq Jahangiri has approached the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), challenging his removal from judicial office.
Jahangiri filed an appeal with the FCC, stating that the IHC’s decision to remove him as a judge should be declared null and void. He claimed that he had been dismissed from his post without the legal conditions being met.
The IHC formally denotified Jahangiri on issues regarding his law degree on December 18, 2025. A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, ruled that Jahangiri did not hold a valid degree at the time of his appointment and declared his appointment “illegal”.
Read: Jahangiri faces tough legal battle
The judiciary ordered him to immediately leave office and ordered the Ministry of Justice to formally dismiss him from the judiciary. “He held an invalid law degree at the time of his nomination and confirmation as a judge,” the court noted. Jahangiri had accused Dogar of misconduct, saying he was facing “immense pressure” to quickly resolve the quo warranto petition filed against him.
He also filed a petition with the IHC through advocate Akram Sheikh, seeking to refer the case against his disqualification to the full court comprising all judges except the transferred judges, including Dogar.
Jahangiri was scheduled to retire on July 10, 2027. He was appointed as an additional judge of the IHC in December 2020 under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government. Prior to that, he had served as deputy attorney general under the Pakistan People’s Party government and then served as attorney general for the Islamabad Capital Territory under the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.
Learn more: Justice Jahangiri accuses IHC Justice Dogar of misconduct
The controversy surrounding his law degree began in 2024 when a letter, purportedly from the Controller of Examinations of Karachi University, began circulating on social media. In July, a complaint about Jahangiri’s alleged fake diploma was filed with the Supreme Judicial Council, the top body for judicial accountability, which investigates allegations of misconduct against judges.
