The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has formally submitted its report to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) concerning the degree controversy involving Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri. The HEC attached Karachi University’s detailed response to the court record.
In its submission, the HEC clarified its institutional role. It stated the commission has no role in university administrative affairs and called the petition an internal matter for the university. The HEC emphasised that universities alone issue degrees, and that the commission neither issues, approves, nor verifies them independently.
Karachi University’s response outlined specific reasons for cancelling Justice Jahangiri’s degree. The university stated that in 1989, an Unfair Means Committee found Tariq Mehmood guilty of cheating and threatening an examiner. The committee imposed a three-year ban, making him eligible to retake exams in 1992.
Read: Islamabad High Court Sets Hearing for Contempt Case Against Justice Jahangiri
According to the university, the student then used a fake 1990 enrolment form bearing a forged stamp of Government Islamia College to obtain a degree during the ban period. The response further alleged the use of multiple fraudulent enrolment numbers.
The university detailed that enrolment number 5968/87 on the degree originally belonged to a student named Imtiaz Ahmed. It claimed Tariq Mehmood obtained another number, 7184/87, for LLB Part II in 1990 through forgery.
A citizen named Irfan Mazhar applied for degree verification on May 23, 2024. This triggered a re-check. The Controller of Examination concluded dual enrolment was impossible and declared the degree and mark sheets invalid.
The Islamabad High Court registrar later emailed on July 5, 2024, seeking confirmation. Karachi University verified the Controller’s findings. The principal of Islamia College also confirmed that Tariq Mehmood was never enrolled at the institution between 1984 and 1991.
