ISLAMABAD, JUL 8: A full court bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday began contempt of court proceedings against those involved in vilifying campaign against Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri.
Jahangiri is not a part of the full court, headed by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
In the social media campaign, questions have been raised over genuineness of Justice Jahangiri’s educational degree, terming it “invalid”. Subsequently, a case was also filed on the same matter in the Supreme Judicial Council.
As per the sources, the full court of IHC was set to meet Monday evening to discuss the matter of social media campaign and a reference against Justice Jahangiri’s educational degree. However, the judges later decided to take up the contempt case the same day.
It should be noted that Jahangiri was a member of the IHC judges’ group who wrote a letter on March 25 seeking Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to convene the judicial convention to consider the matter of alleged interference of intelligence operatives in the judicial functions or “intimidation” of judges in a manner that undermined the independence of the judiciary.
The six IHC judges — Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Jahangiri, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz — had written a letter to the chief justice, who is also chairman of the SJC.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) officials have said state institutions should work by remaining within their jurisdictions and do not interfere into other’s domain. They said when a judge was appointed intelligence agencies verified his degrees, while his scrutiny was also done.
On the other hand, the IHCBA has called an “emergency meeting” of its Executive Committee on the same matter on Tuesday.
In a statement, the IHCBA condemned the campaign as malicious, adding Justice Jahangiri is an able and hardworking judge.
The bar association said Justice Jahangiri had a distinguished career as a lawyer and deputy attorney general. The IHCBA strongly believes in the independence and autonomy of the judiciary, the statement concluded.
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