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 Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, who was removed from office last week.
Justice Jahangiri has been embroiled in a fake degree controversy since last year and is facing parallel 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 Jahangiri’s law degree was “invalid” and declared his elevation to the high court “without lawful authority,” the SHC on Monday maintained that KU’s August 2024 decision to cancel his degree would remain suspended until further orders.
The interim order was extended by a two-member bench comprising Justices Yousuf Ali Saeed and Abdul Mobeen Lakho while hearing a contempt petition filed against KU Vice Chancellor Professor Khalid Mehmood Iraqi and Registrar Imran Ahmed Siddiqui. The contempt plea alleged that the university concealed the SHC’s suspension order from the IHC during proceedings that culminated in Jahangiri’s removal.
The SHC directed that the suspension of the KU decision would remain in effect until the next hearing, the date of which will be fixed later.
During the hearing, both the KU vice chancellor and registrar appeared before the court and submitted affidavits. The registrar argued that the contempt proceedings had become infructuous following the IHC’s final verdict, asserting that the university had not acted in violation of the SHC’s October 3 order suspending the cancellation of the degree.
He told the court that the IHC had sought KU records through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and maintained that KU had not taken any steps to enforce its cancellation decision during the pendency of the SHC proceedings.
Vice Chancellor Iraqi told the bench that the degree records were produced before the relevant forum without any “alteration,” insisting that the university had complied with all legal requirements.
The court directed Jahangiri’s counsel, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, to receive and review the replies submitted by the university officials.
Barrister Ahmed urged the court to hear the case on an urgent basis, stressing the gravity and time-sensitive nature of the matter. However, Justice Saeed observed that it was the last working day of the bench and that the case would be taken up by a bench constituted under the new roster after the winter vacations.
Following this observation, the court extended its interim order till the next hearing.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Barrister Ahmed said the bench had suggested that Jahangiri’s legal team could later file an urgency application to expedite proceedings. He also disputed observations made in the IHC’s December 18 ruling, stating that the SHC had not merely restrained KU from taking further action but had explicitly suspended the university’s decision cancelling Jahangiri’s law degree.
“Legally, that cancellation order remains suspended to date,” Ahmed said. “The IHC has taken a decision based on something which does not exist. A judge has been removed from office on the basis of an order that was suspended and continues to remain suspended.”
The case has intensified debate within legal circles over jurisdictional overlap between high courts, the effect of interim relief granted by one court on proceedings in another, and the broader implications for judicial accountability and due process.
Further proceedings are expected after the winter court recess.
