Take action against fake degree holders within two days: SC

Secretary Election Commission says 249 parliamentarians have not submitted their degrees.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered that action be taken against fake degree holders within two days, Express News reported on Tuesday.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a three-member bench, was hearing a case regarding fake degrees being held by elected parliamentarians.

The bench ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to ease the process of raising objections over nomination papers and said that it was the peoples’ right to raise objections and to seek information regarding their representatives.

The people should not be deprived of their rights as they have matured enough to know who to vote for, the bench added.

During the hearing, the bench asked the secretary election commission regarding the steps taken for the verification of candidates’ degrees, and said that it should be ensured that only qualified and honest people are elected to the parliament.

The secretary said that there were 69 cases of fake degrees and the relative institutions have been asked to take action against 34 of them.

Around 249 parliamentarians have not submitted their Matric and FA degrees to the commission yet, he added.

The court ordered registrars of all high courts to provide details regarding fake degree cases and adjourned the hearing till March 28.