Election officials must check degrees: CJP

It’s the duty of every election functionary to ensure that wrong men do not enter the parliament though elections, said CJ.

ISLAMABAD: “It’s the duty of every election functionary to ensure that the wrong man does not enter the parliament though elections,” said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The chief justice was heading a three-member bench hearing the fake degree case filed against PML-N’s Malik Yasir Raza.

The former PML-N MPA from PP-13 Rawalpindi was disqualified by the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court for holding forged academic degrees. In his appeal against the decision of the LHC, Raza was represented by senior advocate Waseem Sajjad.

Sajjad told the SC bench that three witnesses had confirmed Raza’s having passed his exams before the LHC. And that Justice Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmad had chosen to disqualify Raza on the grounds that his photograph on his intermediate exam form was not a sufficient likeness.

Sajjad argued that the photo had been taken in 1995 when Raza was clean shaven. However, the PPP candidate who had challenged the authenticity of Raza’s degrees challenged this assertion and added that Raza’s signature on the form too did not match the one on the undertaking he submitted with his election nomination papers.

On being asked by the bench to furnish Raza’s educational records, Sajjad quoted the Federal Board of Education as having said that they had burned the records of 1995. “Burned the records?” asked an incredulous Chaudhry. “Educational records are never burnt.”

But Sajjad continued to insist that the LHC verdict disqualifying Raza be suspended and proceeded to narrate an account of his educational qualifications. The bench was told that Raza passed his matriculation in his second attempt in 1992 and went on to pass the intermediate exam from the Peshawar-based Public Education Foundation Degree College affiliated with the federal board. However, Sajjad said due to errors made at the time of data input, Raza was mistakenly thought to have failed. Sajjad said these errors were corrected later by the board after due verification.

Chaudhry then read Raza’s undertaking, observing that the former parliamentarian had sworn on oath that he had never been disqualified. “It was the job of the election tribunal or returning officer to verify Raza’s documents,” said Chaudhry. “It is the duty of every election functionary to ensure that the wrong man does not enter the parliament though elections; we can check why the returning officer and election tribunal did not check his degrees at the time he filed his nomination papers.”

Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday added here that judgments against fake degree holders were the court’s attempt to preserve the majesty of the parliament.

Chaudhry then adjourned the hearing till July 16, directing Sajjad to furnish the documents proving his client’s academic qualifications.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2010.