Forged degree case: Court cancels supplementary application of K-P sports minister

PESHAWAR:

A Peshawar court has cancelled the supplementary application of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Minister for Sports Syed Aqil Shah, who is accused of possessing a fake degree.

In a hearing on Tuesday, District and Sessions Judge Shahbar Khan said that the court has ordered for a witness to be produced in the case on January 8.

Shah, an Awami National Party provincial minister, has a graduation degree from a university in Lahore that is not recognised by the Higher Education Commission.

During a case hearing on October 25, Shah’s attorney Abdul Latif submitted an application to adjourn the hearing on grounds that his client has filed a civil suit against the university for issuing degrees without having the authority to do so.

He had argued that a criminal case cannot be initiated against his client since a civil case is pending before the court.

On October 17, the court issued an arrest warrant for the minister when he failed to appear at the hearing. The arrest warrant was later withdrawn on the same day and Shah’s bail request was also approved against Rs0.4 million with two reliable sureties.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2012.