University degree: PML-N’s Rao Mazhar Hayat told to provide proof by Sep 23

Petitioners say the US university had denied that Hayat was a graduate.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday gave a PML-N parliamentarian the last chance to provide proof that his degree from a US university is genuine.

Irshad Ibrahim and Javed Badr have filed the petition stating that MNA Rao Mazhar Hayat contested the 2008 elections from NA-138, a Kasur constituency. They alleged that the US university, from where Hayat claimed he had a degree, had not verified his degree when the Higher Education Commission had asked for it.

The petitioners said the university had stated in its reply that Hayat had never studied there and declared his degree as “a fake”.

The petitioners said the respondent had violated several provisions of the Representation of People Act 1976. Kasur police had also registered an FIR against him after the election commission took up the matter. They said that despite this, the election commission had not de-notified the respondent from the assembly membership.

The petitioners requested that the court declare Rao Mazhar Hayat disqualified.

The counsel for the respondent argued that his client’s degree was genuine. However, he said, the university had not issued a verification to Hayat because he had some dues outstanding. Hayat’s counsel opposed the petition and said that an inquiry was still pending with the election commission.

Justice Bandial adjourned the case till September 23.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2012.