ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday restored Arif Mehmood Gill as Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) of Punjab from constituency PP-59 Faislabad on the basis of having genuine educational documents, withdrawing its suspension notice dated November 25, 2013.
The three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani perused the record produced by the Assistant Controller (Record) of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Faisalabad.
The applicant's counsel read out the statement of Assistant Controller (Record) dated 22.4.2013, according to which, the intermediate certificate of the respondent was fake because on the date of examination, he (Arif Mehmood) purportedly appeared at two centers i.e. at one as a private candidate and at the other as a regular candidate.
The court was apprised that the admission form for a private candidate was of pink colour while that of regular one yellowish white.
Counsel for respondent Arif Mahmood submitted that the only evidence against his client was the statement of Fida Hussain, Assistant Controller (Record).
A close look at the admission forms showed that in the pink form (private admission form) his matriculation roll number was correctly written as 11592 and name as Arif Mehmood. While at the yellowish white admission form (regular admission form), matriculation roll number was written as 18592 and name as Arif Mehmood Gill, which were incorrect.
The counsel said there was no dispute about the Bachelor of Arts degree, where his name was written as Arif Mehmood.
He also submitted that in 2003 following the directive of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in a petition filed by some other objector, a detailed inquiry was carried out by the BISE, which found the respondent's intermediate certificate as genuine.
The apex court, in its verdict, observed that record had been examined to which reference had been made by the counsel for Gill with the assistance of Board official and found that the submissions made by the respondent's counsel prima facie were not without substance.
The court viewed that in these proceedings no conclusive finding could be given. "If applicant still wishes to challenge the authenticity of the FA degree of the respondent, he may take recourse to other remedy, if available under the law."
In the afore-referred circumstances, the suo moto notice issued to the respondent as also the order of suspension of his membership from Provincial Assembly seat dated 25.9.2013 is withdrawn and disposed of the case, it added.
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