HEC: OGRA chairman’s degree unrecognised

Tauqeer Sadiq obtained his LLM degree from the American University in London.

ISLAMABAD:

The Master of Laws (LLM) degree of the chairman of the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) is from an unaccredited British university not recognised by the Higher Education Commission.

Ogra Chairman Tauqeer Sadiq obtained an LLM degree in 2002 from the American University in London, an unaccredited institution that has been fined by the British government in 2006 for deceiving students into believing that they were attending a university.

Muhammad Anwar Khan, an Ogra employee, challenged Sadiq’s qualifications in a petition filed at the Islamabad High Court last month. The court then asked for the HEC’s opinion on the matter, which was delivered on Saturday.

Sadiq’s defence thus far has rested on the fact that the petitioner had stated that the degree in question was from the “American University of London” rather than the “American University in London”. Sadiq’s degree is from the latter, but both institutions are not accredited by any government and their degrees have been described by British government officials as “worthless qualifications”.

“I hope the Chief Justice of Pakistan takes suo motu notice of it and removes him from the post,” said the petitioner.

Sadiq has a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Punjab, which he obtained in 1987. The authenticity of that degree has not been challenged.

According to the Ogra Ordinance 2002, “the chairman shall be an eminent professional of known integrity and competence with a minimum of 20 years of related experience in law, business, engineering, finance, accounting, economics or petroleum technology.”

It is not clear whether Sadiq was aware that the university he was obtaining his degree from was fake. He claims that he has been working in the relevant fields for the required period of time and is qualified for his position.

Yet many have expressed doubts, including some members of the National Assembly’s petroleum committee, who voiced their concerns at Sadiq’s appointment in 2009. Some observers have alleged that the only reason the Ogra chairman got his job was because he is the brother-in-law of Jahangir Badr, secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The fake degrees issue has been plaguing both politicians and bureaucrats for the last several months, with several legislators having been disqualified for having misled the election commission about the authenticity of their academic qualifications.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has ordered the verification of the academic credentials of over 400,000 federal government employees. Two and half months after the order was issued, the Establishment Division has yet to initiate the process. The reason for the delay remains unclear.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2011.