ISLAMABAD: One of the three Islamabad High Court judges who filled their chambers earlier this week is considering tendering his resignation next week, as uncertainty deepens in the judiciary in the wake of the 27th Amendment.
Sources said Sunrise that Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri is likely to resign early next week. He is also expected to visit the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) on December 2, a day before key developments in his pending case related to his degree.
Justice Jahangiri is among three IHC judges who removed their personal belongings from the high court building over the past week as rumors intensified about their possible resignations following sweeping constitutional changes brought in through the 27th Amendment.
The three judges (Justices Jahangiri, Babar Sattar and Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan) reportedly packed their belongings and took them home. According to sources, Justice Jahangiri removed all the books, documents, decorative items and other personal belongings from his chamber and even recovered the furniture that he had arranged himself.
Sources said informal directives to clear the chambers were conveyed shortly after the 27th Amendment went into effect. The amendment reformed the judicial structure by creating the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) and empowering authorities to transfer high court judges without their consent.
IHC court to hear judgeship case on December 2
Judge Jahangiri is expected to make a final decision on December 1. His planned visit to the IHCBA on December 2 coincides with the hearing of a petition challenging the validity of his law degree, an issue now central to the controversy.
Inside sources said his five-year tenure in the judicial service will end on December 30 and his resignation would take effect from December 31.
The petition challenging his LLB emerged earlier this year when Justice Jahangiri was rapidly hearing election petitions filed by PTI candidates contesting 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 matters by intelligence agencies. The letter sparked a broader debate about judicial independence and led to demands for an investigation. Subsequently, 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 transferred from the high courts of Lahore, Sindh and Balochistan.
Later, Justice Dogar was sworn in as IHC Chief Justice. A constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court dismissed the challenge on June 19, after which the petitioners turned to the newly formed FCC, which also rejected their petition.
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 December 2. Although the IHC website initially set the hearing for December 1, the case was moved to the next day in a revised cause list.
It is believed that once the court takes up the matter and issues notices after admitting the regular hearing petition, the case would proceed to its logical end, and a waiver at that stage would not stop the process without proper judicial scrutiny.
Recently, the SJC continued the proceedings against former judge Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi despite his resignation, eventually finding him guilty of misconduct and punishing him accordingly.
On September 16, the same court restrained Justice Jahangiri from carrying out judicial functions through an interim order. He then personally addressed the Supreme Court.
On September 29, a five-member constitutional court suspended the restraining order on the grounds that it had been issued without prior notice.
The next day, the court quashed the order entirely, declaring it “null and void” and holding that a judge could not be barred from carrying out judicial work by 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 the University of Karachi is “invalid” and that his legal career and promotion 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 30, 2025
