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CJP berates PIA, CAA officials for slow progress on verification of airline employees' degrees
Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday berated Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials for a lack of concrete steps towards the verification of degrees held by pilots and cabin crew members.
A three-judge SC bench headed by the chief justice, which took up in May 2018 a case relating to allegations of fake degrees held by pilots of different airlines, was informed today that of the 498 pilots in PIA, the degrees of 12 pilots have turned out to be fake.
The deputy attorney general told the court that disciplinary action is being taken against the fake degree holders, with a CAA official saying that the licenses of pilots with fake degrees have been suspended and the pilots grounded.
Of the 1,864 crew members in PIA, 73 hold fake degrees, the deputy attorney general said, adding that 146 crew members' degrees are still in the verification phase.
The chief justice questioned the need for an inquiry if the degrees are fake, to which a PIA official said that employees have been obtaining stay orders preventing action being taken against them.
Justice Nisar assured the official that the court would examine the matter of stay orders.
The court summoned PIA and CAA officials, as well as the heads of universities that did not provide verification of degrees. A complete record of fake degree holders was also summoned by the bench.
The chief justice regretted that neither PIA nor the CAA had taken any concrete steps regarding the verification of degrees despite the court having taken notice of the matter months ago.
According to a report submitted by the additional attorney general in court earlier, there are 3,667 pilots and cabin crew in all four local airlines.
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Comments (18) Closed
The PIA is stalling right at the top rank.
Not only PIA and CAA, it is the need of hour to check degrees of all employees working in govt departments.
Excellent move by chief justice.
I have two post graduate degrees including an MBA from America. Imagine with more than 13 years of commercial aviation experience in UK, Pakistan and UAE, along with, exceptional proven track record and indepth knowledge of modern sales and distribution strategies, I serve under people who can't even write a two liner email. I always wanted to serve Pakistan and that will remain my passion, but I truly believe people with the right skills and academic qualifications should be given leading roles in the aviation industry of our country.
How dangerous it is if a fake pilot operates a plane with 300 passengers on board.
@Orakzai, agree. clarify the records one and for all.
Check the degrees of all PIA employees people with fake degrees may be shunt out. That is may be the only way to reduce over staffing in PIA and other government organizations.
How can they verify the degrees and diplomas of their staff when most of them carry dubious, fictitious and fake credentials?
What is this "stay order" drama it should be abolished!!!
This CJ is doing sooo muchhh work!!! Love him!!!
Report from internal inquiries are unreliable as corruption and nepotism is deep rooted. False reports saving favored and implicating dissidents are commonly prepared as CJ has no means to available verify. Theres a need to make JITs on all major issues to ensure transparency
Behind every fake degree holder you will find a trail of sifarish leading to the door of some corrupt PPP or PMLN politician, who got them hired.
Fake pilot degree is as dangerous as fake doctor performing major life threatening surgery. May be more ther are playing with many innocent lives when fake pilots flying the planes.
Almost 500 pilots? How many airplanes do we have that can fly.
Incompetency runs deep in our departments, which starts at the top.
The culture of paying your way through filter tests etc are coming to an end. An honest PM, an honest CJP and an honest COAS, thats all it needs to change course towards a naya pakistan.
There may be many officials without degree making good money and protected by their appointing officers. Work force should retire non-productive workers to make company profitable. Time to provide more training and assess workers performance. Those who refuse to become efficient and productive, get rid of those dead woods.
It’s ok.
You do not need a degree to serve tea and coffee to the air passengers .. or to ignore them altogether. As for the pilots you do not need a degree either, just pass your air flying tests and have the requisite hours of flying experience. But everybody in PIA and CAA and elsewhere got their jobs through nepotism and influence. We all know that.
Good move and pressure by honorable CJ.