KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday extended its interim order suspending the Karachi University (KU) Syndicate and Unfair Means Committee’s decision to cancel the law degree of former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, who was removed from office last week.
Jahangiri has been embroiled in a fake degree controversy since last year and has faced legal proceedings in both the SHC and IHC. While an IHC division bench headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar ruled on December 18 that his degree was “invalid” and that his elevation to the high court was “without lawful authority,” the SHC has continued to keep KU’s August 2024 cancellation order in abeyance.
The suspension will remain in place until the next hearing, the date for which is yet to be fixed.
The decision was issued by a two-member bench comprising Justices Yousuf Ali Saeed and Abdul Mobeen Lakho during the hearing of a contempt petition filed against KU Vice Chancellor Professor Khalid Mehmood Iraqi and Registrar Imran Ahmed Siddiqui.
Separately, Jahangiri’s counsel, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, told the media that a contempt petition had been filed against KU for allegedly concealing from the IHC the SHC’s order suspending the university’s proceedings, including its decision to cancel Jahangiri’s law degree.
During the hearing, KU VC Iraqi and Registrar Siddiqui appeared before the court and submitted their affidavits. The registrar argued that the contempt plea had become ineffective following the IHC’s final verdict and should therefore be dismissed.
He maintained that KU had not taken any steps in compliance with the SHC’s October 3 order suspending the cancellation of the degree and said that the IHC had sought KU’s records through the Higher Education Commission.
Vice Chancellor Iraqi informed the bench that the degree records were presented to the court without any alteration.
The court directed Barrister Ahmed to receive and review the replies submitted by the respondents. Barrister Ahmed, in turn, urged the court to take up the matter promptly, citing its urgency.
Justice Saeed noted that it was the bench’s final working day and stated that the case would be heard by a new bench as per the roster after the winter vacations. Consequently, the interim order was extended until the next hearing.
Speaking to the media afterward, Barrister Ahmed said the bench had suggested filing an urgency application at a later stage. He also argued that the IHC chief justice’s observation in the December 18 ruling — that the SHC had merely restrained KU from taking further action — was inaccurate. According to him, the SHC had not only barred further action but had also suspended the cancellation order itself.
He added that, legally, the cancellation order remains suspended to date, asserting that the IHC decision was based on an order that “does not exist.” He concluded that a judge had been removed from office on the basis of a suspension order that remains in effect.
