ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has dismissed Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s objections to a division bench hearing pleas against the validity of his law degree and appointment.

A four-page written order, authored by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, with Justice Muh­ammad Azam Khan concurring, reproduced Justice Jahangiri’s contention that he had not been provided with the relevant record along with the court notice.

However, the court record, seen by Dawn, contradicted this claim. According to the record, not only Justice Jahangiri but other judges had applied for and were issued the record related to the degree case.

The documents show that the relevant material was issued to Justice Jahangiri, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz on Sept 17, while another copy of the petition along with its annexures was issued to Justice Jahangiri on Sept 18.

Four-page written order provides reasons against claims about CJ’s conflict of interest, formation of bench

The order noted that Justice Jahangiri raised objections to the composition of the bench, as well as to one of its members. The same be­­nch had earlier barred Justice Jaha­ngiri from performing judicial work in September in connection with the case, an order that was later set aside by the Supreme Court.

The court order observed that Justice Jahangiri, who appeared in person before the bench on Monday and presented his arguments had “expressed his no confidence” in the bench on the ground that he had filed an intra-court appeal against Chief Justice Dogar before the SC.

However, the court observed that on the administrative side and “kee­­­ping in view the sensitive nat­ure of allegations of having an invalid/fake degree having been levelled against a sitting judge of this court, it was deemed conducive, proper and in the fitness of things to constitute a division bench to hear this case instead of a single bench.

It added, “Even otherwise, the constitution of benches to hear cases is the sole prerogative of the chief justice,” and noted that this was not the first instance in which a division bench had been constituted to hear a particular petition.

On the basis of these observations, the court reje­c­ted Justice Jahangiri’s objection to the constitution of the division bench, holding that it was “without force”.

Regarding Justice Jahangiri’s expression of lack of confidence in Chief Justice Dogar on the basis of an appeal filed against him in the SC, the bench noted that the plea had already been dismissed by the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Nov 24.

Justice Jahangiri along with four other IHC judges had filed an intra-court appeal in July against the then SC constitutional bench decision that upheld the seniority list of the IHC, elevating Justice Dogar to the top. The five judges had pleaded Justices Dogar, Khadim Hussain Soomro and Mohammad Asif not be treated as IHC judges unless they took fresh oaths in accordance with Article 194 of the Constitution.

The intra-court appeal was later fixed before the FCC following its establishment under the 27th Amendment and was ultimately ‘dismissed for non-prosecution’.

About Justice Jahangiri’s claim that no case record had been provided to him and his subsequent request for more time to obtain relevant documents and engage private counsel, the court order stated that the Higher Education Commis­sion (HEC) was directed to provide Just­ice Jahangiri with its report on the matter along with the annexures.

In a detailed report submitted to the IHC on Dec 8, the HEC endorsed the findings of Karachi University that Justice Jahangiri’s LLB degree had been obtained through unfair means.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2025