ISLAMABAD: The Islam­abad High Court (IHC) has reserved the verdict on the maintainability of a petition to verify Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s law degree.

On Thursday, IHC Chief Jus­tice Aamer Farooq heard the petition filed by lawyer Mian Daud.

He requested the court to stop Justice Jahangiri from ex­­­ercising judicial powers till the verification of his LLB degree.

Earlier, the registrar office had raised objections to the petition on grounds that Mr Daud was not an aggrieved per­­son and the matter was alr­eady pending before the Sup­reme Judicial Council (SJC).

Arguing before the court, the petitioner said he was not seeking a writ against the SJC and that the petition could be admitted for a regular hearing.

Being a lawyer, Mr Daud said he was an aggrieved person and he filed the petition to ascertain the veracity of the purported letter of the Univ­e­r­sity of Karachi that termed the judge’s LLB degree invalid.

Later, the court reserved the order on the maintainability of the petition.

Last week, a letter began circulating on social media, purportedly from the Univer­si­­ty of Karachi’s controller of ex­­aminations regarding the law degree of Justice Jahan­giri.

The letter was shared by several social media activists and journalists, along with the subsequent complaint filed with the Supreme Judicial Council against the judge.

On Monday, an IHC full bench, comprising all seven judges, issued notices to two journalists and a social media activist for their alleged role in the campaign aimed at “vilifying” the judge.

In its detailed order, the court noted that the “scurrilous campaign” aimed to malign the judge “which amounts to an attempt to bring the Court into hatred, ridicule and disrespect and, prima facie, qualifies as contempt of Court”.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2024