The Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared on Tuesday a petition seeking the verification of Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s degree maintainable and sought a reply from the judge on the matter within three days.
The petition questioning the legitimacy of the LLB degree of the IHC judge and seeking a judicial determination on whether he lawfully held office as a high court judge was filed by lawyer Mian Daud. The court had reserved its decision on the maintainability of the plea in July last year.
A two-member IHC bench, comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, issued the verdict today after hearing arguments on the matter.
During the hearing, Ahmed Hassan Shah, who was representing the District Bar Association, contended that the matter should be referred to the Islamabad Bar Council, which issues licences to lawyers. He also argued that allegations of misconduct against any judge fell under Article 209 of the Constitution, which covers the subject of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
At that, CJ Dogar observed that the case did not pertain to misconduct but the eligibility of a judge to hold office.
More to follow
