ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court summoned vice-chancellor Islamia University, Bahawalpur, in lawyers’ fake degrees and affiliations of law colleges’ case.
A three-member judge bench, headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Musarrat Hilali heard the case pertaining to the mushroom growth of law colleges.
The bench directed the vice-chancellor to bring with him registration criteria of law colleges with the university, and documents related to students’ admission at the next hearing.
The court has also directed the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Provincial Bar Councils to file a report about the scrutiny of the faculty members of the law colleges.
The Higher Education Commission was ordered to submit a report on the non-Practice Allowance Policy.
During the proceeding, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted the progress report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).
The lawyer of the non-affiliated colleges contended that all the inquiries are being conducted against his clients. He said that
focal persons of non-affiliated colleges were not allowed to appear before the JIT.
He requested the court to allow his clients to make a submission and file records before the committee.
Justice Ijaz said that in the last hearing, they had made it clear that this case cannot be reopened, adding the Court will decide whether the inquiry was conducted fairly or not? He said the FIA inquiry is not for the instant matter but on its basis, the law colleges could be de-affiliated in future as well.
Chairman Executive Committee PBC Hasan Raza Pasha said the FIA report contains the detail of de-affiliated law colleges. He said, according to the report, 6,227 students appeared in the test, out of that 3,997 students declared fake, and 2,230 law students are stated to be genuine.
He said the JIT has recommended that the cases be registered against Bahauddin Zakria University and law colleges affiliated with it. The JIT also proposed that strict measures need to be taken to control the menace of fake degrees. When a university affiliates a law college it does not have any criteria as most of the colleges are set up in two rooms building.
Justice Hassan Rizvi inquired from the chairman of Executive Committee PBC whether they have checked the education qualification of persons teaching in those law colleges and whether the teachers’ degrees have been verified. Hasan Raza informed that the JIT has collected data about the qualification of the teachers. The case was adjourned sine die.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
Comments
Comments are closed.