Justice Tariq Jahangiri accuses IHC CJ Dogar of pressurising to resign

Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri has accused IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar of misconduct and of pressurising him to resign.

Justice Jahangiri has filed three petitions before the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan and the Islamabad High Court, challenging the proceedings of an IHC division bench in a fake degree case against him.

Justice Jahangiri has also filed a formal complaint against Chief Justice Dogar before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

The division bench, headed by Chief Justice Dogar, has been hearing allegations regarding a fake law degree attributed to Justice Jahangiri.

In his petition, Justice Jahangiri contended that Chief Justice Dogar’s conduct violated the Code of Conduct for Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, thereby barring him from hearing the case.

Justice Jahangiri alleged that while the matter remained sub judice before the Chief Justice, he discussed the pending case with him and others.

“During such discussions, the Chief Justice acknowledged that tremendous pressure had been brought to bear upon him to expeditiously adjudicate the case against the applicant,” the petition stated.

According to Justice Jahangiri, the Chief Justice directly and indirectly suggested that if the applicant tendered a post-dated resignation and handed it over to him for safekeeping, it would enable the Chief Justice to satiate those pressurising the Chief Justice and enable him to prorogue court proceedings.

Justice Jahangiri maintained that by attempting to negotiate the outcome of a sub judice matter and making such an outcome contingent upon his resignation, the Chief Justice had disqualified himself from sitting in an adjudicatory capacity in the case. He urged Chief Justice Dogar to recuse himself from hearing the matter.

He further described the Chief Justice’s conduct as an “egregious violation” of the judicial code, which expressly prohibits judges from discussing sub judice matters with parties to a case.

Justice Jahangiri also alleged bias on the part of Chief Justice Dogar, noting that he had previously challenged the Chief Justice’s transfer and appointment to the Islamabad High Court.

He argued that, at the very least, there is a clear appearance of bias that disqualifies the Chief Justice from hearing the petition.

“The petition, which challenges the petitioner’s appointment as a judge of this Court, cannot be heard by the Chief Justice whose own transfer and appointment were earlier challenged by the petitioner,” Justice Jahangiri stated, adding that previous restraining orders and recent impugned orders passed by the Chief Justice demonstrate apparent bias against him.