Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri denotified as IHC judge

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the de-notification of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as a judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), on the advice of the prime minister, ARY News reported on Friday.

After the approval by the president, the Ministry of Law and Justice has issued notification to officially de-notified Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as judge of the Islamabad High Court.

The de-notification has been issued in compliance with the decision of the Islamabad High Court, which declared his appointment as a judge to be illegal and ordered him to vacate office.

IHC’s division bench, headed by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and comprising Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, swiftly announced a short judgment minutes after reserving the verdict on Thursday.

In its ruling, the court held that Justice Jahangiri was not eligible to be appointed as a judge as he possessed an invalid law degree at the time of his appointment.

The court ordered the Ministry of Law and Justice to immediately de-notify him as a judge and directed Justice Jahangiri to cease holding office with immediate effect.

The IHC declared Justice Jahangiri’s law degree to be fake and dismissed all his pleas challenging the proceedings.

Justice Jahangiri filed several petitions in the IHC for the formation of a full court and adjournment of the proceedings until the outcome of a related case pending before the Sindh High Court. He also raised objections to the division bench hearing the matter.