ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: A PML-N legislator who graduated after the Feb 18, 2008, election has sought verification of her degree and deletion of her name from the list of legislators holding fake or invalid degrees.

Saima Aziz, holding a Punjab Assembly seat reserved for a woman legislator, had submitted with her nomination papers the copy of a degree purportedly issued by Islamia University of Bahawalpur in 2007 which was found to be fake by the university.During the course of a hearing on Monday before the committee supervising the process of verification of lawmakers’ degrees, she disowned her degree and submitted another one that was issued some two weeks after the election.

The counsel for Ms Aziz, Barrister Malik Rafiq Rijwana, told the committee headed by Election Commission’s spokesman Mohammad Afzal Khan that his client was daughter of Mr Mohiuddin and after getting married her name was changed to Saima Aziz. He argued that her marks sheet had already been verified by the HEC and requested for verification of her degree as well. The committee informed him that the degree was genuine but that it was issued on March 1, 2008, that is after the date of filing of nomination papers.

The counsel, however, argued that it was not the jurisdiction of the committee to check whether the degree was issued before or after the filing of nomination papers. Rather the committee could only check its genuineness.

He said the application he had moved along with documents confirmed that the degree was genuine. The case was adjourned for Dec 13 on the request of the counsel.

Sources in the Election Commission, however, said that they could verify only the degrees submitted by legislators along with their nomination papers. “Since Saima Aziz’s second degree was issued after the election, this is for sure that it was not submitted with the papers,” they remarked.

Ms Aziz is one of around half a dozen legislators, most of them women, who have disowned the degrees available on record of the Election Commission.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MPA Sardar Ali is the fresh induction in the list of legislators with dubious educational qualifications. His brother Raza Mohammad appeared before the committee and pleaded that the degree available in the record did not belong to his brother.

He presented the copy of another degree which was handed over to the HEC for verification and the case was adjourned for Dec 13.

The committee struck the name of a PPP MPA from Balochistan, Sardar Tariq Magsi, off the list of legislators found to be holding fake or invalid degrees because he had won by-elections on June 30, 2008, when graduation was not a condition for contesting elections in the light of apex court’s orders passed in April, 2008.

Senator Mir Mohabat Khan Marri appeared in person and pleaded that he had already submitted a copy of his graduation degree. The committee asked him to provide copies of his matriculation and intermediate certificates and also informed him that the degree submitted by him was the same as was submitted with nomination papers.

The senator told the committee to call the controller of examination of the University of Punjab for verification of the record. The committee decided to issue notice to the controller to present complete record.

According to a HEC report, Mr Marri never appeared in the examination held in 1986. By fraudulent means an entry has been made in the record against Roll No. 33083 which was actually blank. The University of Punjab has not verified the degree.

Representatives of MPAs from Punjab, Samina Khawar Hayat and Syeda Majida Zaidi, and MNA Mazhar Hayat sought adjournments. Their cases were adjourned to Dec 13 with the instructions to provide credible defence.