SC adjourns fake degrees case 

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court has adjourned the petition against half a dozen employees of the PIA, who are accused of holding fake MBA degrees issued by the Al-Khair University of AJK.  

The adjournment to an unspecified date was ordered as none appeared on behalf of the Al-Khair University. 

Now before taking up the petition, the court is likely to publish an advertisement in newspapers. 

The matter of fake degrees surfaced in 2009 when some employees were promoted on the basis of questionable credentials. 

They remained on duty during the days they were supposed to be attending the university classes for 17 MBA subjects. Since there was also no arrangement for online classes at the time, their presence on duty raised doubts about their presence in classrooms and the authenticity of their degrees. 

Petitioners Arshad Khan and Mudassar Hassan Rana allege that the respondents had purchased degrees, which is an illegal act.  

They pray that the respondents be designated as OSDs so that they could not influence investigations against them. 

They allege that some bigwigs of PIA are backing the fake degree holders and that it is because of their continuous support that they are continuing their jobs in the national carrier. 

Before approaching the Supreme Court in 2019, the petitioners also knocked on the doors of the Lahore High Court, FIA and NAB.   

The respondents include: Tanvir Qasim, Irfan Basit, Muhammad Ijaz, Wajid Saleem and Qaisera Tabassum.