‘Fake’ degree: Mirza asks court to declare rival’s candidature illegal

Sindh High Court directs ECP to send egree of candidate from PS-57 to the HEC for verification.

KARACHI:

A larger division bench of Sindh High Court, headed by Justice Maqbool Haider, directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to send the BBA degree of a candidate from PS-57 (Tando Bago) to the Higher Education Commission for verification.

The court asked for the report to be submitted within three weeks.

The directions came following a petition filed by National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza who went to court against the Provincial Election Tribunal’s dismissal of her appeals on the eligibility of a rival candidate.

She submitted that the Provincial Election Appellate Tribunal of the SHC allowed her rival candidate, Ali Bux Shah aka Papu Shah, to contest the 2008 general elections from PS-57. She claimed that Shah’s BBA degree was not authentic, as the issuing authority had no affiliation in Pakistan. Dr Mirza asked the court to declare the acceptance of Shah’s nominations illegal.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2013.