The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) former member Punjab Assembly Raja Shaukat Aziz Bhatti against his disqualification. A three-member bench comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, while announcing a reserved verdict, upheld the decision of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which had disqualified Shaukat Aziz Bhatti for possessing and presenting a fake degree.
Bhatti had won the 2013 general election from Rawalpindi's PP-4 constituency of tehsil Gujar Khan on the ticket of the PML-N. Later, Major Iftikhar Mehmood Kayani (retd) had filed a complaint with the ECP, seeking Bhatti's disqualification and a by-election in the constituency.
A five-member commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner former Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, announced the short order in June 2017, de-notifying the MPA. Earlier, the ECP had declared Shaukat Bhatti's graduation degree a fake and ordered criminal proceedings against him. Bhatti was accused of submitting the degree of another person with the same name. However, he challenged the ECP's decision in the Supreme Court. Bhatti is the son of late Justice Abdul Aziz Bhatti who remained a PPP MNA during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's period.
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