SC delists hearings of illegal appointments in NAB, DG's fake degree cases
A new date for hearing of the cases is yet to be issued by the registrar's office
November 10, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has delisted hearings of cases concerning alleged illegal appointments in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the matter of a dubious academic degree held by the bureau's top official in Lahore.
The cases were previous fixed for hearing on Monday, November 12, 2018 by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar. A new date for hearing of the cases is yet to be issued by the registrar's office.
The hearings delisted also included a petition filed by journalist Asad Kharal over the alleged fake academic degree held by Director General National Accountability Bureau (DG NAB) Lahore Major (Retd) Shahzad Saleem. The court has withdrawn its notices issued to the petitioner for the hearing.
The registrar's office did not give a reason for delisting the hearings, but sources told Geo News that it was carried out on the petitioner's request.
The matter of Shahzad Saleem's alleged fake degree had been brought to the court's notice last year during the hearing of a suo motu case regarding illegal appointments in NAB.
The Lahore director general of the bureau is facing an internal NAB probe over his alleged fake degree on the orders of the Supreme Court. The apex court had earlier sought a report from the NAB Chairman while hearing Kharal's petition, which alleged that the degree issued in 2002 is written in Calibri font which was commercially available only in 2007.
NAB Chairman Justice (R) Javed Iqbal had earlier sought a report from his subordinates about the dubious degree on the directions of the Supreme Court but no apparent action was taken on the issue since October 2017.
Assistant Attorney General-V Mansoor Tariq had earlier informed the Peshawar High Court during hearing of a case that Saleem Shahzad's degree was not recognised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
Saleem denies the allegations regarding his degree.
The case received fresh attention this week when the issue of the dubious degree was brought up during Saleem's interview with Geo News anchorperson Shahzaib Khanzada.
On Friday, former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also raised the matter during a press conference, calling on Saleem to present his degree to the press so that can verify its authenticity.
"If he does [hold a fake degree], he should be held accountable," Abbasi told reporters. The opposition party has accused the DG NAB Lahore of conducting a 'media trial' of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif.
