Fake degree: Balochistan Excise and Taxation minister disqualified

The admit card of Amin Umrani had his name and address but somebody else's picture.

QUETTA: Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Babu Amin Umrani was disqualified for possessing a fake degree. The division bench of the Balochistan High Court also cancelled his degree and asked the concerned authorities to initiate criminal proceedings against the sitting minister.

The bench, comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel and Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mengal, issued this order on a petition filed by Niaz Ahmed.

Umrani was elected as a member of the Balochistan Assembly on Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) ticket in the 2008 general elections.

Interestingly, the admit card of the University of Balochistan carries a photo of another man with Umrani’s name. The man in the picture is said to have appeared in the examination on behalf of the provincial minister.

The petitioner had pleaded that Umrani contested the 2008 general elections from constituency PB-29 Naseerabad on a fake degree and thus committed electoral fraud. “Amin Umrani did not appear in the examination, rather in his place, Mumtaz Ali appeared and solved the papers and he (Umrani) succeeded in getting the degree fraudulently,” he pleaded while praying for Umrani’s disqualification.

On court orders, the record of Umrani’s examination form was produced before the bench by the University of Balochistan on which Umrani’s name and address were written along with the picture of Mumtaz Ali.

The court disqualified the minister after his degree proved to be faked and also directed for lodging an FIR against him and the cancellation of his degree.

The bench also directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct by-elections on the seat vacated by the minister.