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A judge of the Islamabad High Court in Pakistan has come under serious trouble after the court cancelled his appointment, saying his law degree was invalid and obtained through fraud. Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri had served as a high court judge for five years before the court declared his elevation “without lawful authority”.

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court, led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, delivered a detailed 116-page judgement earlier this week. The bench ruled that Jahangiri’s academic credentials were doubtful and legally defective, making his appointment a “legal nullity”.

Background of the case

According to the court record cited by Pakistani media, Jahangiri first appeared in his LL.B. Part-I examination in 1988 using 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.

The judgement said that despite the ban, Jahangiri allegedly tried to bypass the penalty. He reportedly reappeared in the 1990 examinations under a slightly different name — “Tariq Jahangiri” — and used an enrolment number that originally belonged to another student, Imtiaz Ahmad. For LL.B. Part-II, he again used a different enrolment number.

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Court observations

The bench noted that universities issue only one enrolment number for a particular programme, making it impossible for a student to legitimately possess multiple numbers for the same degree. Because of these discrepancies, the court declared Jahangiri’s mark sheets and law degree void from the beginning.

The court was also informed by Government Islamia Law College that Jahangiri had never been admitted to the institution. Judges further criticised his conduct during the proceedings, noting that he failed to produce original documents or submit a written reply despite repeated opportunities.

With the ruling, Jahangiri’s five-year tenure as a high court judge now stands invalid in the eyes of the law, marking a major controversy within Pakistan’s judiciary.