ISLAMABAD, Jul 12 (APP): The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday summoned Vice Chancellor Islamia University Bahawalpur in personal capacity in a case pertaining to legal education, fake degrees and lawyers’ enrollment.
The apex court also instructed the VC of the said university to bring the relevant record along with him on the next hearing.
The bench directed Advocate Ahmed Qayyum to assist the bench in this regard and also sought a progress report from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The court instructed the Pakistan Bar Council (PBA) to submit a report regarding the scrutiny of faculty members while the provincial bar councils were also asked to file the reports. The bench also sought a report from Higher Education Commission pertaining non-practice allowance policy.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan heard the case pertaining aforesaid matter. The counsel of the non-affiliated colleges adopted the stance that all inquiries were being taken place against these colleges, adding that they were even not being given opportunity to appear in inquiry.
The lawyer prayed the court to grant them permission to present the record before the joint investigation team (JIT). Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan observed that it was already too late, adding that the top court couldn’t order to re-open the case. He remarked that the court would decide whether the inquiry was conducted as per law or not.
Justice Ahsan observed that the FIA inquiry was not about the current cases rather the affiliation of the colleges could also be ended on the basis of it in future.
Lawyer Hassan Raza Pasha said that as per the FIA report, 6227 students had participated in admission tests. It said a total of 3997 students were declared as fake while 2230 were found genuine.
He said that the JIT had recommended registering cases against Bahauddin Zakariya University and colleges and also proposed strict measures to stop such practice in future. No standard was observed when a university get a college associated, he said, adding that the universities containing only two rooms had been produced.
He said that the JIT had stated that 26 law colleges had no criteria for admissions, adding that we were told on a visit to universities that they used to upload the lectures on Youtube from where the students download the same.
Hassan Raza Pasha said that why heavy fees were being collected when the students had to study online. He said that the data of the lectures was also being scrutinized, adding that the registrar offices of the universities were involved in embezzlements. The students were used to be given admissions on previous dates after taking Rs300,000 each from them, he said, adding that the non-affiliated colleges were still blackmailing the students for minting money.
He prayed the court to issue a strict order in this matter. Justice Ahsan said that the court would instruct to share a copy of the FIA report with all respondents. He remarked that the bench had no trust in Bahauddin Zakariya University as it had made the matter more complex.
The further hearing of the case was then adjourned after the summer vacation.
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