The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday disqualified Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri in a case concerning allegations of a fake law degree. This development comes after a series of high-profile legal confrontations between Justice Jahangiri and IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar.
Earlier, Justice Jahangiri publicly accused Chief Justice Dogar of misconduct and claimed that he was being pressured to resign. In response, he filed three petitions with the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan and the Islamabad High Court, challenging the proceedings of an IHC division bench that had been hearing the fake degree allegations against him. Additionally, Justice Jahangiri lodged a formal complaint against Chief Justice Dogar with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
The IHC division bench, headed by Chief Justice Dogar, had been examining the legitimacy of a law degree attributed to Justice Jahangiri. In his petitions, Jahangiri argued that the Chief Justice’s conduct violated the Code of Conduct for Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, which he claimed should disqualify Dogar from presiding over his case.
Justice Jahangiri further alleged that while the matter was pending before Chief Justice Dogar, the Chief Justice discussed the case with him and other individuals. According to the petition, the Chief Justice admitted that “tremendous pressure had been brought to bear upon him to expeditiously adjudicate the case against the applicant,” raising concerns over the impartiality of the proceedings.
The disqualification marks a significant escalation in the ongoing legal and institutional dispute surrounding Justice Jahangiri and highlights the challenges of judicial accountability and internal oversight within Pakistan’s higher judiciary.
