The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed 12 parliamentarians accused of having either fake or invalid educational degrees to appear on Monday before the ECP’s special committee hearing the fake degree cases.
“We have sent three notices to PPP lawmaker Nasir Ali Khan (NA-259) and if he does not appear on Monday, his case would be decided ex-parte,” a senior ECP official told Pakistan Today.
Other parliamentarians summoned are Hayat Ullah Khan Tareen (NA-155), Ghulam Dastagir Rajan (NA-255), Muhammad Safdar Gill (PP-274), Zulfiqar Ali (PP-271), Sardar Meer Qaisrani (PP-240), Yar Muhammad (PB-31), Mir Ahmed Khan (NA-265), Rizwan Naurez Gill (PP-234), Haji Nisar Mehmood (PPP-111), Shaukat Aziz Bhatti (PP-4) and Kishwar Kumar(PF-Reserve).
The ECP official said the aforementioned lawmakers had been issued strict notices to appear before the four-member special committee.
Muhammad Afzal Khan, EC deputy secretary heads the committee, which includes Rahim Bux Channa, HEC director general accreditation and attestation, EC Deputy Secretary Sheikh Jalil and Section Officer Mumtaz Awan.
Nasir Ali Khan, who claims to have received a degree from Tanzeemul Madaris, was summoned in the last two hearings also, but failed to turn up.
Of the 12 parliamentarians, five claim having graduate degrees from the University of Sindh, two from the University of Punjab, one from Gomal University, while the rest claim having madrassa degrees.