It’s all in the name: Sarwar’s bail extended till July 5

LAHORE:

Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi of Lahore High Court on Friday extended, till July 5, the interim bail granted to former federal minister for overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar.

Sarwar is accused of using another man’s intermediate certificate to sit for BA exams so he could contest the 2008 elections. The Anti-Corruption Establishment had lodged the case against Sarwar. The judge ordered the Punjab Board of Technical Education chairman to appear with record of the diploma awarded to the ex-federal minister.

The ACE said that Sarwar (son of Muhammad Hayat Khan) had obtained a diploma originally issued to another candidate who had the same name but whose father’s name was Abdul Hameed Khan. The ACE had also registered cases against a former chairman of the Punjab Board of Technical Education, its secretary and two other officials for issuing the duplicate diploma unlawfully. Counsel for the petitioner argued that the case registered by the ACE was “politically motivated”. He requested that the court confirm the interim bail earlier granted to his client.

He said the ex-minister had a valid degree but the university was trying to cancel it “without legal justification”. Prosecutor General (Punjab) Sadaqat Ali Khan had opposed the bail, saying that Sarwar’s crime had been ‘established’.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2013.