In a scam that has shockedPakistan's judicial system, theIslamabadHigh Court on Monday issued a detailed 116-page judgment on the removal of one of its judges, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, declaring that his appointment to the bench was “without lawful authority” as he did not possess a valid law degree. According to a report by Dawn, an IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan held that ex-Justice Jahangiri’s foundational law degree was void ab initio, rendering his elevation to the high court a “legal nullity”.

According to the records produced by the University of Karachi (KU) registrar, his academic credentials were tainted by "fraud, impersonation and a deliberate attempt to circumvent a disciplinary ban".

Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri first appe­ared in his LL.B. Part-I examination in 1988 under a fake enrolment number. He was later caught using un­f­air means and was debarred for three years thro­u­gh a university disqualification circular issued in 1989.

Instead of complying with the ban, the court held, he “chose a course of deliberate misrepresentation” and reappeared in the 1990 examinations under a different identity, “Tariq Jahangiri”, using an enrolment number originally issued to another student, Imtiaz Ahmad, according to the Dawn report. He later appeared in the LL.B. Part-II examinations under his actual name but with yet another enrolment number.

Quoting the KU Controller of Examinations, the bench observed that a university issues only one enrolment number per programme and that it was “impossible” for a student to be allotted two numbers for the same degree. Consequently, the mark sheets and degree were declared invalid.

The principal of Government Islamia Law College also informed the court that Mr Jahangiri “was never admitted” to the institution, a claim the bench described as particularly damaging.

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