ISLAMABAD: One of the three Islamabad High Court judges who packed up their chambers earlier this week is considering submitting his resignation next week, as uncertainty deepens in the judiciary following the 27th Amendment.
Sources told Dawn that Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri is likely to tender his resignation early next week. He is also expected to visit the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) on Dec 2, a day before key developments in his pending degree-related case.
Justice Jahangiri is among the three IHC judges who removed their personal effects from the high court building over the past week as rumours intensified regarding their possible resignations following sweeping constitutional changes introduced through the 27th Amendment.
The three judges — Justices Jahangiri, Babar Sattar and Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan — had reportedly packed their belongings and shifted them home. According to the sources, Justice Jahangiri removed all books, documents, decorative items and other personal effects from his chamber, and even took back the furniture he had arranged himself.
The sources said informal directives to clear the chambers were relayed shortly after the 27th Amendment came into force. The amendment reshaped the judicial structure by creating the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) and empowering authorities to transfer high court judges without their consent.
IHC bench to hear judge’s degree case on Dec 2
Justice Jahangiri is expected to make a final decision by Dec 1. His planned visit to the IHCBA on Dec 2 coincides with the hearing of a petition challenging the validity of his law degree — a matter now central to the controversy.
Insiders said his five-year term in judicial service will complete on Dec 30, and a resignation would take effect from Dec 31.
The petition questioning his LLB surfaced earlier this year when Justice Jahangiri was expeditiously hearing election petitions filed by PTI candidates who contested the February 2024 general elections.
Justice Jahangiri was one of the six IHC judges who wrote to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) last year alleging interference in judicial affairs by intelligence agencies. The letter sparked a wider debate on judicial independence and led to demands for an inquiry. Later, five of these judges — Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq and Saman Rafat Imtiaz — challenged the federal government’s decision to transfer three judges to the IHC earlier this year.
The transferred judges — Justices Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar, Khadim Hussain Soomro and Mohammad Asif — had been moved from the Lahore, Sindh and Balochistan high courts.
Justice Dogar later took oath as IHC chief justice. A constitutional bench of the Supreme Court dismissed the challenge on June 19, after which the petitioners approached the newly formed FCC, which also rejected their plea.
Degree case hearing
Meanwhile, an IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Dogar and Justice Mohammad Azam Khan is scheduled to hear the degree case against Justice Jahangiri on Dec 2. Although the IHC website initially listed the hearing for Dec 1, the case was shifted to the next day in a revised cause list.
It is believed that once the bench takes up the matter and issues notices after admitting the petition for regular hearing, the case would proceed to its logical end, and a resignation at that stage would not halt proceedings without proper judicial scrutiny.
Recently, the SJC continued proceedings against former Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi despite his resignation, ultimately finding him guilty of misconduct and punishing him accordingly.
On Sept 16, the same bench barred Justice Jahangiri from performing judicial duties through an interim order. He then approached the Supreme Court in person.
On Sept 29, a five-member constitutional bench suspended the restraining order on the grounds that it had been issued without notice.
The next day, the bench set aside the order entirely, declaring it “null and void” and holding that a sitting judge could not be barred from judicial work through an interim directive.
The petition filed by Advocate Mian Dawood under Article 199 seeks a writ of quo warranto against Justice Jahangiri, arguing that his LLB from Karachi University is “invalid” and that his legal career and elevation are therefore unconstitutional — a jurisdiction rarely exercised in such matters.
Justice Jahangiri has not joined the separate petition filed by four IHC judges challenging the 27th Amendment.
Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2025
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