In a stunning development, the Islamabad High Court has removed Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri from office after ruling that his law degree was fraudulent, rendering his appointment invalid from the outset.
According to a detailed 116-page judgement issued on February 23, the court declared his degree “void ab initio,” meaning legally void from the beginning. As a result, his December 2020 appointment as a High Court judge was deemed unlawful. He had already been restrained from performing judicial functions since September last year.
The verdict, reported by Dawn, relied on official records submitted by the University of Karachi’s registrar. The court found that Jahangiri had engaged in impersonation and other fraudulent practices dating back to 1988, when he allegedly sat for an examination using a fake enrolment number. He was caught cheating and barred by the university for three years in 1989.
Instead of serving the penalty, the judgement noted, he reappeared in 1990 under a slightly altered name and used an enrolment number assigned to another student. Further scrutiny revealed that he was never admitted to Government Islamia Law College, as confirmed by its principal.
Despite being given repeated opportunities to present original documents or submit a written defence, Jahangiri failed to do so. Instead, he sought adjournments, requested a full bench, and asked for the chief justice’s recusal, citing parallel proceedings before the Sindh High Court.
The bench dismissed these moves as delaying tactics and held that his inability to substantiate his qualifications justified drawing an adverse inference against him.
