Jahangiri swears on the Quran that this title is genuine and warns of a “disastrous” judicial precedent
ISLAMABAD:
Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar has rejected objections raised to his participation in a court hearing a quo warranto petition accusing a brother judge, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of the IHC, of ​​possessing an invalid law degree.
CJ Dogar has pointed out that Justice Jahangiri will get justice from his court like all other litigants.
On Monday, a division bench headed by Justice Dogar and comprising Justice Muhammad Azam Khan resumed hearing of the quo warranto petition filed by Mian Dawood Advocated.
Justice Jahangiri, who was directed by the court in the last hearing on December 9 to file a reply within three days, himself appeared before the court. Islamabad Bar Council members Raja Aleem Abbasi, Zafar Khokhar and others were also present.
The court ordered the lawyers to take their seats and said, “Please sit down. Mr. Jahangiri is no longer a lawyer; he is my colleague. A respected judge has appeared before the court. We only wish to hear from Justice Jahangiri.”
Justice Tariq Jahangiri stated that he received the court notice on Thursday. He said that the case is 34 years old and asked for time to obtain a copy of the petition. He again opposed the chief justice sitting on the court.
“You are a judge and I am also a judge. I have filed a petition against your transfer.” [to the IHC] and antiquity. “This is a conflict of interest and they cannot sit against me in this case,” he said.
According to Justice Jahangiri, in the judicial history of Pakistan, India or even the world, it has never happened that one judge prevented another from carrying out his judicial work. “I was prevented from working on a case that involved an objection. My objection is that you should not hear this case,” he said.
On September 16, the court, while accepting the petition, restrained Justice Jahangiri from performing his duties. Subsequently, the IHC judge and several of his colleagues filed a petition before the Supreme Court, which on September 30 quashed the division bench’s interim order.
Responding to Justice Jahangiri’s objections, the Chief Justice said that he, Jahangiri, would receive justice like anyone else. Justice Jahangiri further argued that an order of quo warranto is never heard by a division bench but by a single court.
He said that by setting the hearing before a divisional court, he had also been deprived of his right to file an intra-judicial appeal against the decision.
He said that in this way not even a patwari or a laborer is deprived of his work. He said that even in murder cases, charges are framed after seven days, while he was given only three days’ notice.
He urged the court not to proceed in this manner in a quo warranto petition, warning that setting such a judicial precedent would have disastrous consequences.
Justice Jahangiri stated that the university had never said that the degree was fake or that it had not been issued. He again swore on the Holy Quran, invoking Allah as witness, that his title is genuine. He reiterated that the university never declared the degree false or denied having issued it.
The judge said that the Sindh High Court (SHC) stayed the decision canceling his title, so his title was restored. Subsequently, the IHC summoned the Registrar of Karachi University (KU), along with the complete file, on December 18.
He also ordered that a copy of the petition and all related documents filed with it be provided to the appropriate judge. Lawyer Mian Dawood requested that the case be heard on a day-to-day basis. The court adjourned the hearing of the case until December 18.
Last year, the KU union canceled the IHC judge title. On September 25, after the IHC prevented the judge from exercising his duties, the university also issued a notice confirming its union’s decision. However, the SHC suspended KU’s notification on October 4.
