ISLAMABAD, Dec 13: Another lawmaker has been found to be holding two fake graduation degrees, taking the number of such cases to three.

Fresh addition in the list is Sardar Ali, an independent member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Mr Ali was one of the ten legislators who disowned their academic degrees available with the Election Commission (EC).

A committee – headed by EC spokesman Mohammad Afzal Khan – verifying degrees of lawmakers told Inamullah, a representative of the MPA, that the second degree presented by the provincial legislator had also been declared fake by the University of Peshawar.

Inamullah however requested for issuing notice to the controller of examination of the university to produce the record before the committee. Directing the university's controller to produce record on December 28, the committee also asked the MPA to appear before it in person on the same date.

Ali Madad Jaddak, a PPP member of Balochistan Assembly, was the first lawmaker whose two degrees turned out fake. When he presented his second degree while disowning the first one, he also produced a verification certificate of Shah Abdul Latif University. Like the degree, the certificate was also found fake.

The second case was that of Seemal Kamran, a PML-Q member of the Punjab Assembly, who disowned the graduation degree issued to her by the Punjab University in 1991. After the degree was declared fake, she presented another one, showing that she had graduated from Shah Abdul Latif University. It was also declared fake by the university. The next hearing into the case of the MPA will be held on December 28.

This was the first meeting of the committee after the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retired) Hamid Ali Mirza referred the cases of three lawmakers – Zahoor Khosa, member of the Balochistan Assembly, and Farah Deeba and Shaukat Aziz, members of the Punjab Assembly – found to be holding fake degrees to the concerned DPOs for registration of FIRs against them. The three legislators belong to PML-N.

The committee issued final notices to two members of the Punjab Assembly on reserved seats for women – Nasim Nasir Khawaja and Syeda Majida Rizvi – for December 20, asking them to provide credible defence, or their cases will be sent to the CEC.

Eminent lawyer S M Zafar, representing Senator Wali Mohammad Badini, argued that at the time of filing nomination papers of his client, the condition of graduation was not required.MNA Mazhar Hayat appeared in person and presented documents, including copies of university card, evaluation reports, passport, and list of participants of the convocation ceremony. Adjourning his case till December 28, the committee asked him to provide a set of his complete documents, a written reply, and an affidavit.

Advocate Tariq Khokhar, representing Federal Minister for Livestock Mir Humayun Aziz Kurd, pleaded that the degree of his client was invalid but not fake.

He maintained no criminal proceedings could be initiated against Mr Kurd as no mala fide was involved. The committee asked him to submit a written reply by December 28.