Accusation OGRA chief appointment challenged

An employee of the body accuses him of holding fake degree.


Obaid Abbasi April 19, 2011

ISLAMABAD:


A court on Monday issued notices to the secretary Cabinet Division and chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) after a top official was accused of holding a fake degree.


An official of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) questioning the appointment of the body’s chairman, accusing him of having a “fake” LLM degree.

Muhammad Anwar Khan, who is the office secretary administrative department OGRA, filed a writ petition on March 22, 2009.

During the course, Akhtar Aziz appeared before the court and said that he would represent Chairman OGRA Touqeer Sadiq. The lawyer representing HEC did not appear in the court.

The petitioner said Touqeer Sadiq obtained his LLM degree in 2002 from American University in London, which is reported to be fake. He also did not have relevant experience for this post, Anwar Khan said.

The HEC has already submitted a reply stating that the American University of London is not listed in the world list of universities published by UNESCO on the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) website. This name cannot be found on the accredited degree awarding universities of the USA or the UK.

The petitioner said many people applied for the post when the vacancy was announced in newspapers but Touqeer Sadiq was appointed on the recommendation of Jehangir Badar, Secretary General Pakistan Peoples Party. The counsel for the petitioner told the court that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani also rejected the summary regarding Sadiq’s appointment, despite which he was recommended for the post of chairman.

The petitioner contended that according to the OGRA Ordinance 2002, “the chairman shall be a renowned professional with integrity and competence along with a minimum of 20 years of relevant experience in law, business, engineering, finance, accounting, economics or petroleum technology.” “Sadiq does not have the required qualification,” said Khan.

He prayed the court to ask Sadiq to justify serving as the chairman when his appointment was “in violation of the relevant regulations”.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2011.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ