ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan will hear on Thursday the cases of three elected representatives on charges of holding fake degrees.
The three legislators include members of the National Assembly Muhammad Riaz and Mian Javed Latif and Member of Provincial Assembly Iftikhar Ahmed Khan, all from the province of Punjab.
They are among those 52 whose degrees were established to be faked and the Commission had directed criminal proceedings against them.
According to the Commission, these three MPs have contested that their degrees are not fake and the Azad Kashmir Supreme Court has given verdict in their favour. It is worth mentioning that these MPs who are from the province of Punjab had got their degrees from the universities in Azad Kashmir.
However, the Higher Education Commission has claimed that their degrees were fake and had recommended to the Commission for an appropriate action.
According to the sources, out of total 52 cases 27 were sent to the DPOs for registering of FIRs and initiate criminal proceedings against the holders of fake degrees. But, FIRs could be registered in only 12 to 13 cases and no arrest or further action has been reported.
It has also been learnt that even ECP has not received recent update on the proceedings of these cases and action under the relevant laws of land.
This process had started almost more than two years back when the Supreme Court had ordered the ECP to initiate inquiry against the fake degree holders and sent the cases of those to the District and Session Judges, who are found guilty of holding fake degrees. But, the process lingered on and even to date no action has been taken against those who bluffed at the time of filing their nomination papers.
The sources confirmed that none of the fake degree holders was either arrested or punished for committing this illegal act. Rather they continued to be the members of the legislative bodies at the center and the provinces.
As the process still continuing, the ECP has recently sent two more cases of the fake degree holders to respective District and Session Judges for initiate proceedings against them.