Lust for power: Fake degree lands KP minorities’ minister in jail

JUI-F’s Kishore Kumar slapped Rs15,000 fine and imprisoned for one year.


Zulfiqar Ali April 23, 2012

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Minorities Kishore Kumar has been arrested for possessing a fake degree, after a court in Dera Ismail Khan announced him disqualified from the provincial assembly.

Kumar, who held one of the assembly seats reserved for minorities, was also handed down a Rs15,000 fine and one-year imprisonment by District and Sessions Judge DI Khan Akhunzada Shahjahan. He contested the 2008 general elections with a ticket from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazlur Rehman.

Police arrested the MPA from the courtroom and took him to DI Khan Central Jail. Kumar has been charged under sections of 199, 200 and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Speaking to journalists outside the court, Kumar denied that his degree was fake and said that he will be moving the Peshawar High Court to challenge the district court’s decision.

Kishore Kumar, while talking to media persons outside the court room denied to have produced a fake degree and informed that he would move to the high court to challenge decision of the district court.

“Kumar’s BA degree is certified and bears the signature of the examinations controller at DI Khan’s Gomal University. There is no evidence that his degree is fake,” Salimullah Rana Zia, Kumar’s counsel, told The Express Tribune. The degree bears the roll number 1195 and claims Kumar sat the annual exams in 1999.

The case was referred to the district and sessions court by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Ajith Bahadar from the Aqliati Rabta Party, who had lost against Kumar in 2008, challenged the degree.

COMMENTS (22)

SK - Salman | 11 years ago | Reply

@Sajid: Every party has seats reserved for minority and women, depending on the number of their seats in the Provincial and National Assemblies. For women, usually the parties nominate their own daughters or relatives, and for minorities it is for funds contributed or other services rendered. It is almost never for distinction or achievements, or you would have seen the likes of former Justice Rana Bhagwandas or the gold medalist athlete Naseem Hameed in the parliament.

Ali | 11 years ago | Reply

@Usman Shahid: I don't think so.. If you have the right qualification and grades, you can easily get into any foreign university

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