MNA Shazia Marri accused of using someone else’s BA degree

Man goes to SHC against lawmaker.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court issued notices to the chief election commissioner, the higher education commission chairperson, the University of Karachi  (KU) and others on a petition seeking the disqualification of Pakistan Peoples Party leader Shazia Marri from the National Assembly’s reserved seat for women on the basis of her alleged fake degree.

The petitioner, Atta Muhammad Chandio, who claims to be a registered voter of Sanghar, had taken Marri, along with the election commission and the higher education authorities, to court for using the degree of another KU student, Shazia Atta Muhammad, to become an MNA. The petitioner claimed that the lawmaker had received a BA (Pass) degree in 2002 from the Raunaq Islam College for Women, Lyari, affiliated with Karachi University. But, she never attended this college, he alleged.

The particular degree was in fact issued to Shazia, daughter of Atta Muhammad, who was enrolled in KU on October 10, 1975, Chandio alleged. Meanwhile, Marri, daughter of Atta Muhammad Marri, was enrolled on October 8, 1972.

Rafiq Kalwat, the petitioner’s lawyer, argued that there was no doubt that Marri had used the degree as her own to acquire the public office, which she was otherwise not qualified for. After inquiry from KU, it became clear that Shazia Atta Muhammad had applied for a duplicate copy of her degree on December 12, 2012.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2013.

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