The Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Saturday declared LLM degree of Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Tauqeer Sadiq, as fake. An employee of Ogra had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) claiming that Ogra chairman Tauqeer Sadiq had LLM degree from the American University in London, said HEC spokesperson Aysha, adding that "we have verified that there is no such university" recognised or registered from where Tauqeer claims to have obtained his LLM degree.
Tauqeer, who is a brother in-law of ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) secretary general, Jehangir Badar, is thought to be politically well-connected, and has been on the lucrative post for the last two years. National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources had also expressed serious concerns over his appointment as Ogra chief without required experience and qualifications in the relevant field.
Tauqeer's appointment as Ogra chief had given birth to numerous controversies and as soon as he took over as chairman, he developed differences with Ogra members. The differences started when he delegated all powers to member finance Kamal Mari by making former member Oil Dr Illyas Fazil and member gas Hadi Hasnan dysfunctional who had opposed the decision to relocate site of CNG station owned by a PML-Q lawmaker. Dr Illyas Fazil had resigned after member Gas Hadi Hasnan retired in August last year.