Punjab University confirms PTI MPA’s BA degree fake

• PTI MPA Bilal Asghar Warraich's BA was quashed in 2015.
• His degree was quashed after it was revealed his intermediate certificate was bogus. 
• Writ petition filed against MPA seeks his disqualification from the assembly.

TOBA TEK SINGH: Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Dr Niaz Ahmad has confirmed that PTI MPA Bilal Asghar Warraich's bachelor's in arts (BA) degree was fake, The News reported Thursday.

The development came during the proceedings of a case in the Lahore High Court related to MP’s degree.

Dr Ahmad presented a four-page report through the varsity's legal adviser Advocate Malik Muhammad Awais Khalid.

In the report, the vice-chancellor confirmed the MPA's BA degree was quashed by the university's syndicate after Faisalabad Board had declared his intermediate certificate as bogus.

VC's report added that the PU Syndicate had issued a quashing notification of his BA degree on July 29 in 2015.

The writ petition was filed by a voter from the said MPA's constituency in Gojra, Zahid Rasool, who had sought Warraich's disqualification from the assembly.

Rasool had taken the stance that in 2015 when the Supreme Court had directed for original and verified educational certificates of parliamentarians, PU's Syndicate had revealed that Faisalabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education had declared MPA's intermediate passing certificate issued in 1995 as bogus.

And on the basis of this fake certificate, the MPA had appeared in BA exams by cheating the university, and as a result, his BA degree issued in 1997 was quashed by the PU Syndicate.

The court has fixed June 29 for the next hearing.

Warraich accuses Punjab governor of conspiring to disqualify him

The PTI MPA, on June 3, had accused against Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar that he was conspiring to disqualify him.

As per a report in The News, Warraich had accused Sarwar of trying to get him disqualified over what he referred to as bogus allegations of his BA degree being fake.

He had said the Punjab governor had been trying to get the MPA disqualified over the past few years but had not succeeded so far.

Warraich, addressing a press conference, had alleged that Sarwar was the same governor who, during the PML-N era as well, used his influence on then Punjab University vice chancellor to declare his BA degree fake.

He accused the Punjab governor of conspiring once again with his political rivals, Usama Hamza and Asad Zaman Cheema, to have his degree declared fake.

Warraich had said his degree was genuine, adding that his relationship with estranged PTI leader Jahangir Tareen had upset the Punjab governor. 

The MPA had said he enjoyed personal relations with Tareen and that was why he was supporting him in demanding a transparent inquiry.