Licences of 16 pilots, 65 cabin crew suspended over fake degrees, SC told
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The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) revealed before a Supreme Court bench on Wednesday that the licences of 16 pilots and 65 cabin crew of various airlines have been suspended for allegedly holding fake educational credentials.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar was hearing a case relating to the verification of degrees of pilots and other staff of various airlines operating in the country.
The CAA counsel informed the bench that the verification of degrees of all airline staff had been completed, save for six. These six cases involve airline officials who are currently abroad.
See: Five PIA pilots have not even done matric, SC told
He stated the degrees of 16 pilots and 65 cabin crews turned out to be forged during the verification process. The licences of these staff members were subsequently suspended.
Justice Nisar during the hearing remarked that an impression prevailed that the authorities were acting with "haste" regarding the matter of educational credentials because of court orders. "We do not want to prohibit anyone's livelihood," he added.
The top judge stressed that the record on the basis of which airline staff have been suspended should be correct.
The CAA lawyer stated that the pilots whose licences have been suspended have the right to appeal.
Appearing before the bench, a pilot complained that his licence was suspended even though "my degree is genuine". The chief justice, however, directed all airline officials to approach the relevant forums with their grievances.
The SC bench wrapped up the case, which it had taken up in May 2018, after hearing all the parties.
At a hearing in December, the CAA had informed the top court that the academic credentials of seven pilots of the Pakistan International Airlines had been found to be bogus and five of them had not even passed their matriculation exam.
According to a report submitted by the additional attorney general in the court earlier, there are 3,667 pilots and cabin crew in all four local airlines.
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On DawnNews
Comments (93) Closed
Jan 09, 2019 05:24pm
What about the fake degrees of several MNAs, MPAs and Article 62-1 (f) ???
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Jan 09, 2019 05:24pm
Those who hired them.should be punished!!!
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Jan 09, 2019 05:27pm
Putting people’s lives at risk
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Jan 09, 2019 05:27pm
Should be prosecuted
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Jan 09, 2019 05:32pm
Not supporting or pointing fingers at any regime but cleanup of departments is being done for the first time. This must be appreciated.
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Jan 09, 2019 05:33pm
Pilots have fake degrees are a security risk to passengers. This is the reason I will not travel with PIA for the foreseeable future. My money is better spent on Qatar.
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Jan 09, 2019 05:43pm
Excellent decision this will save millions of Rs of PIA which are weak position in financial and overstaff, PIA need retrenchment of all political appointees of PMLN and PPP, this will save millions of rupees, if Govt want to reemerged PIA in profit organization, they have to take this decision, example a senator who appointees are approx 12 or 15 staff brothers, nephews need to stop. Let PIA alive this.
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Jan 09, 2019 05:48pm
Shouldn’t they also go after those who issued the fake credentials ?
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Jan 09, 2019 05:50pm
Those people who authorized these non degree holders knowingly must also be investigated and punished if we want to eradicate corruption.
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Jan 09, 2019 05:51pm
Just suspension of licences are not enough. Put them behind bars and impose heavy fines on these criminal fake pilots and fake cabin crew for playing with the lives of innocent passengers for so long time.
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Jan 09, 2019 05:52pm
Is this really a surprise when you consider the lack of accountability in our country?
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Jan 09, 2019 05:53pm
Fake and dishonest people got in through sifarish. This is at every leve everywhere in the country. Amir Liaquat is another example and we see him in the media where he appears without shame of being caught with a fake degree.
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Jan 09, 2019 05:55pm
SC doing good job, There is also intense need to check out all the degrees of employes in all departments
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Jan 09, 2019 06:04pm
Pilots flying hundreds of travellers with fake credentials. good lord
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Jan 09, 2019 06:04pm
It is a very serious matter; compromising the safety of passengers!
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Jan 09, 2019 06:04pm
How they have been appointed is big question. Either by reference or political support. It should be brought to there end. Should be punished.
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Jan 09, 2019 06:06pm
Subject to the right to appeal and privilege to due process of law, this is a great and historic decision by the Civil Aviation Authority or CAA, as commonly known, in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to suspend the licenses of various airline pilots and cabin crew due to fake, forged or faulty degrees, diplomas or educational credentials. Please nip the corruption in the bud no matter where it stems from.
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Jan 09, 2019 06:14pm
Even if PIA offers me free ticket i will never step in to their flights.
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Jan 09, 2019 06:20pm
I find it hard to believe that pilots had forged degrees. How come they were not verified prior to appointments. Its amazing.
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Jan 09, 2019 06:20pm
Pilots with forged degrees, surely not. Why is it so difficult to verify a degree in Pakistan.
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Jan 09, 2019 06:21pm
Verifying a degree is a simple process, why does it take so long and why aren't qualifications verified prior to appointments?
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Jan 09, 2019 06:21pm
No sympathy with these pilots but u don't need a degree to fly a plane. Just lots of hours in simulator.
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Jan 09, 2019 06:22pm
Shocked ! I’m not.
I am sure thee are more than 16 pilots in PIA with fake degrees .
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Jan 09, 2019 06:23pm
So typical. A certificate is only a piece of paper.
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Jan 09, 2019 06:26pm
70 years of nepotism and mediocrity baring its fruits
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Jan 09, 2019 06:28pm
What about politicians?
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Jan 09, 2019 06:35pm
This is NOT enough, Chief Justice Sir, they must return all what they drew, and be jailed for 5 to 10 years, this will also be lesson for others.
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Jan 09, 2019 06:50pm
Someone do the same to PTCL worst service on the planet earth!
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Jan 09, 2019 06:52pm
fake degrees ? so can u also not sack those who hired them? please do that
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Jan 09, 2019 07:06pm
Check Murad saeed and Amir liaquat’s degree please.
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Jan 09, 2019 07:10pm
How about HRs of Civil Aviation, PIA and all other secret agencies who verified the degrees. It was all mess. Nepotism.
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Jan 09, 2019 07:26pm
They should go to jail.
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Jan 09, 2019 07:27pm
@M. Saeed,
Would you fly in a plane piloted by a fake pilot?
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Jan 09, 2019 07:28pm
@M. Saeed, This verification should happen across all departments, including Judicial and Military to weed out fraudsters.
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Jan 09, 2019 07:31pm
@Maboob Saleem, "A certificate is only a piece of paper."
Looks like you got one of those too!!
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Jan 09, 2019 07:32pm
You do not need a degree to fly a plane but you do need a licence. If they have a valid licence they should be allowed to fly a plane if they are cleared in fake degree case
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Jan 09, 2019 07:33pm
Why just suspended? Make an example. Show them door and ask them to payback the state perks they received during their service.
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Jan 09, 2019 07:36pm
Mere suspension of licenses of these criminals will not work. Both the bogus degree holders, as well as those manufacturers of these fake degrees must be jailed i.e rigorous imprisonment. Similar must be the action against the members of parliament, especially the ministers of the federal/prov. governments. Splashing of such news stories are instrumental in tarnishing image of the country. Even degree certificates/credentials of the respective CMs and ministers of education must be thoroughly probed.
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Jan 09, 2019 07:39pm
There were some genuine degree holders who also got suspended, this seems to have been done in haste.
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Jan 09, 2019 07:47pm
incompetence everywhere denying merit their due share.
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Jan 09, 2019 07:57pm
Now take similar action against fake degree holders politicians, lawyers, bureaucrats and other government officials. Law should be same for all and seen to be working!
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Jan 09, 2019 08:01pm
Can we just have verification of Pilots credentials before flying on PIA
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Jan 09, 2019 08:18pm
CAA and others responsible should be reprimanded and penalized for hiring these pilots without verification. A hefty penalty going towards DAM funds is warranted. Such action will discouraged any other organization to put public lives at risk.
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Jan 09, 2019 08:35pm
Now lets move to NAB
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Jan 09, 2019 08:46pm
He 6 officials who are abroad and their degrees could not be verified are likely bogus. The case has been wrapped so they have been saved.
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Jan 09, 2019 08:49pm
But what about the punishment? They need to return their salaries and serve at least 5 years in prison.
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Jan 09, 2019 09:41pm
All airline staff holding fake academic credentials should be sacked and prosecuted. There is no merit in the logic to save their livelihood. Should a person who steals not be prosecuted or sacked simply because he will lose his livelihood? Makes no sense.
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Jan 09, 2019 09:58pm
AXACT must have been really popular
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Jan 09, 2019 10:12pm
SC rocks no doubt.
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Jan 09, 2019 10:58pm
PPP and PML-N political influence-rs over the yes destroyed the standard of the airline.
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Jan 09, 2019 11:58pm
@Omar, i am sure most of these 16 pilot degrees must be genuine. Only reason they are proved fake is because they may have been appointed on merit and may not have any backing. Fake pilots with heavy back must still be flying planes without any problem.
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Jan 09, 2019 11:59pm
The court in Pakistan has made the correct judgement , people who break the law must be punished . Brushing this incident under the carpet will give the country a bad name . Pakistan is already going thru bad times, surely people wouldn't like to add to it.
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Jan 10, 2019 12:01am
CJP says the court doesn't want to "prohibit anyone's livelihood". Fake degrees are the ultimate form of corruption. A serious threat to life, liberty, and happiness.
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Jan 10, 2019 12:28am
Vital to collect all salaries/benefits they received on fraud.
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Jan 10, 2019 12:28am
Why does the Supreme court has to intervene to find these cases, this is the responsibility of PIA management, they should have been the ones looking into this, after all, people's lives are depended on it, there is no excuse for this to be happening, the human resources and the management from top to bottom dropped the ball.
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Jan 10, 2019 12:32am
The pilot, who has no education is flying the plane, a plan carries maybe 250 people, we have Ministers who have no education, or fake degrees, have been running the country for years that has over 200 million citizens. Where do we draw the line
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Jan 10, 2019 12:36am
When you knew things are being done illegally all these years, why were you silent? Someone is going after them so appreciate it. One step at a time. Next stop could be the politicians. Be patient. Just whining and complaining does not help.
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Jan 10, 2019 12:44am
Must be all Axxact graduates.
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Jan 10, 2019 12:49am
Recovery of payment of salaries may also be initiiated because they committed fraud and received the money to which they were legally and morally not entitled..A criminal proceeding against them must be instituted without delay.
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Jan 10, 2019 12:56am
Those who hired them should be fired as well for doing verificarion
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Jan 10, 2019 01:00am
Which flight school enrolled and trained these pilots with fake educational credentials?
All the pilots who graduated from the flight school that trained pilots with fake credentials should be scrutinized with due diligence.
This kind of cheating can only happen with the collusion of group of people in an organized manner, where the middle man taking care of the paper work.
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Jan 10, 2019 01:40am
Why do I smell Axact?
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Jan 10, 2019 01:42am
That's a very valid point!
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Jan 10, 2019 01:54am
One does not need a degree to be a pilot, however if an individual has made a 'false declaration' in their resume that's another matter for be fired!
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Jan 10, 2019 02:04am
Degrees and metric certificate do not fly the airplanes. Instead of suspension it will be more beneficial if they are heavily fined to strengthen the treasury.
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Jan 10, 2019 02:09am
@Indian, In my line of work we found Indians who had degrees in engineering, the computer science that was not only fake but from "donation colleges" in India. Many obtained H1B visas and employment in the US through these institutions and many more got references and fake work experience from fake Indian IT companies in India.
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Jan 10, 2019 02:14am
Looks like SC is the only Dept working. Suspending fake degree holder officials is a good step but why no body else in PIA (and other depts.) are catching these on their own, even a simple matric pass clerk can catch this if they want to? Looks like whole country is running on Suo motto actions.
Pak Gov depts. are huge white elephants with 1000s of employees working in each and literally DOING NOTHING (all grades: top to bottom). Almost all of gov dept. are riddled with such chronic incompetence, politics and corruption to a point that they are incapable of even carrying out simple tasks. Unfortunately in such state, nothing can improved without a massive cleanup(layoffs) and re-structuring/re-org of all institutions.
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Jan 10, 2019 02:17am
there are hell lot more of these guys in PIA.. only 65 !!!
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Jan 10, 2019 02:31am
It Comes back to the same things . Past culture nurtured these ideas, and the standard of education is not the best. Once again this comes from the past culture
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Jan 10, 2019 03:07am
How can they communicate? if they are not matric?Impossible
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Jan 10, 2019 03:25am
Digree digree hota hai, Asli ho ya naqli. LOL
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Jan 10, 2019 03:27am
@Hasnain Haque, Universities have no choice in these matters. They knowingly confirm the degrees and certificates. In case of non-confirmation they put the credibility of all the authentic degrees at risk. They are in "damned if you do and damned if don't" dilemma.
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Jan 10, 2019 03:31am
Flying an aircraft without proper training and a genuine licence is extremely dangerous. A SC judge making a statement like, "We don't want to stand in the way of someone's livelihood" is irresponsible.
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Jan 10, 2019 03:45am
The only people that they have cheated on.... Is themselves....
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Jan 10, 2019 03:50am
Sen thosee who hired them despite danger to passengers. Spare none.
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Jan 10, 2019 04:34am
@Hasnain Haque, Because the verifier(s) perhaps has FAKE degrees as well. - fact of our system; We live in Pakistan - Present State of our CULTURE - Hippocratic and FAKE; sad and unfortunate, indeed. It hurts to write such blunt comments - Chances are high, Dawn will shy away to print
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Jan 10, 2019 04:59am
There are too many pilots. Too many by international standard.
No wonder PIA is sucking public money in billions.
Privatize it. Only solution
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Jan 10, 2019 05:14am
Even if the pilots had not done Matric they had airline pilots flying course and experience.
How smart must they have been !!!
IK Saab should have them fly his personal PAF plane ..
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Jan 10, 2019 05:19am
That is silly! Question is how long have they being flying ? if over 10 years or even 5 plus years their are no safety issues fail to understand the logic behind their firing them why not just regularize them just like the Imran khan s house in Bani Gala and make sure it does not happen in the future no logic in firing competent people Bill Gate, of microsoft is a college dropout Mark Zukeburg of face book is a college dropout and a lot of successful people do not have college degrees !
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Jan 10, 2019 05:20am
If a pilot not have a matrix pass, but has been flying the PIA planes ... can they give him five months for him to legally pass the matric exam ?
After all, getting a pilots license is ten thousand times more expensive for the airline than a simple matric pass for him..
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Jan 10, 2019 05:20am
@Abdul Hannan, not in a simulator actual flying hours !
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Jan 10, 2019 05:24am
I always fly PIA ..
Because all the flight crew are relatives of PM and other important politicians..
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Jan 10, 2019 05:28am
All PTI office members must be given first preference in new hires in PIA.
This is only fair, as previously PPP and PmlN office bearers. Got all the jobs.
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Jan 10, 2019 06:12am
PIA is notoriously known for BAD customer service and BAD planes.
Improve maintenance and service standards as priority.
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Jan 10, 2019 07:07am
What about so called Judges
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Jan 10, 2019 07:16am
why cant pia be handed to china for modernisation and make it private. we will have better pilots, much better airhostess and cheaper airfares
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Jan 10, 2019 07:19am
Scary, but punishment should be given to all involved. Suspension is not really enough.
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Jan 10, 2019 07:20am
@Magister,
Mr. Magister,
Do you know the early years (from 1947 to 1957) of Pakistan?
How old are you?
It has become in the country the stereotype critising without any knowledge - from so-called politicians to so-called journalists and moderators.
Are they champions?
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Jan 10, 2019 07:26am
@M. Saeed,
Mr. M. Saeed,
Verification of the qualification-degrees and certificates of military and civil officials is also essential.
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Jan 10, 2019 08:58am
Now who is going to say checked..checked when the real instrument had a big fault ...
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Jan 10, 2019 09:26am
Though much late but a very good step and their appointing facilitators must also be charged. Moreover,they must pay back whatever they have earned from PIA.
Or sat least be jailed for 5 years minimum.
All highly established organization must provide equal and fair chances of employment under strict merit policies.
And their must be a legal check on the working of these organizations.
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Jan 10, 2019 09:28am
Is there any appreciation for those PIA employees working with devotion for betterment of their association as well as in the best interest of company.
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Jan 10, 2019 06:10pm
Surely degree certificates of half the PTI MNAs also will be fake. (If at all they have.)
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