ECP to seek SC direction on MPs’ degree verification process

Owing to lukewarm response from sitting parliamentarians and concerned educational institutions, the Election Commission is unlikely to get the degrees verification process completed before the upcoming elections, it has been learnt.

Senior official of the ECP were of the view that in next couple of days, the commission would approach Supreme Court to seek further direction in this regard.

“Elections are approaching very fast. We have to streamline many important things… so we are not very much interested to purse fake degrees cases anymore. Instead we will approach the SC to seek further directions,” a senior official of the ECP told Pakistan Today.

Currently, copies of 218 graduation degrees of parliamentarians are lying pending with the HEC for verification. The list carries many important names, including Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Nisar Ali Khan, who thinks asking for submission of original degrees by the ECP was an insult to parliamentarians.

The degrees of all lawmakers were sent to the HEC by the ECP in light of Supreme Court Judgment announced on July 20, 2010.

Subsequently, the HEC declared 56 degrees fake. Resultantly, many fake degree-holding lawmakers had to resign from assemblies while 19 cases are pending with various courts.

After this development, the remaining 218 lawmakers started dodging the HEC and are defiant to provide the required original degree, Intermediate and matriculation certificates, which are mandatory for verification of graduation degrees.

Last year, the HEC itself attempted to get their record form the institutions, but the lawmakers created hurdle in its way and finally institutions under political influence rejected to comply with the HEC order.

“Of total 218, apparently dozens of copies of graduation degrees seem perfectly bogus… however, at this stage we can’t declare them fake because we require original degrees to say anything for sure,” a senior HEC official said.

On the other hand, sources in the ECP said despite repeated attempt, the said politicians were not submitting their original documents and the ECP had decided to seek SC’s directions.

On February 7, the ECP gave, what it called final notices, to 249 parliamentarians to submit the required documents to HEC before February 22, otherwise, their degrees would be considered fake.

However only 31 MPs submitted their documents and the HEC declared their degrees genuine.

The remaining 218 MPs have not submitted their documents and are seeking refuge behind Nisar’s statement, saying the ECP was insulting parliamentarians.

Though, it is widely believed the degree of the opposition leader is genuine, his statement against the process has provided dubious degree-holders a room to criticise the ECP and HEC.