SUKKUR: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Waseem Akhtar on Thursday urged the chief justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC) to take notice of a fake degree scandal involving 1,184 lawyers after Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU), Khairpur, declared their academic records fake and enrolments invalid.
Addressing a press conference, Waseem Akhtar said the university’s inquiry committee had declared the academic records of 1,184 LLB candidates fake and illegal.
He demanded that the names of lawyers found to hold fake degrees be published in newspapers and criminal cases registered against them. He also called for action against those who allegedly facilitated the issuance of fraudulent degrees.
“If those responsible for dispensing justice hold fake degrees, who will deliver justice?” he asked.
Akhtar said the lawyers concerned had not only practised law in courts but had also participated in bar elections and cast their votes. He further claimed that between 2,500 and 3,000 lawyers were avoiding the verification and scrutiny of their degrees.
He urged Sindh Law Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar to take action in the matter, saying those responsible for maintaining the justice system must uphold fairness, transparency and accountability.
Criticising the PPP government, the MQM-P leader alleged that merit had been undermined across Sindh’s institutions and that nepotism had become widespread. He also accused the government of damaging educational institutions and called for merit to be ensured in the education and judicial sectors.
Akhtar further raised concerns over alleged irregularities at the University of Karachi’s law faculty, claiming that a junior lawyer had been appointed dean on the chief minister’s instructions in violation of the rules.
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He also questioned the registration and licensing of lawyers, alleging that some were granted bar licences despite being registered in other districts of interior Sindh.
He warned that fraudulent degrees could increase the number of lawyers without ensuring professional competence and called on the authorities to protect educational standards from political interference, prejudice and ethnic divisions.
Meanwhile, SALU has declared the academic records of 1,184 LLB candidates fake and their enrolments and related credentials invalid.
The university has sent copies of the relevant notifications to the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Bar Council and the provincial bar councils concerned. It has also uploaded details of the decisions on its website, saying the move aims to ensure transparency and keep the public informed.
The invalidation affects 658 candidates from the three-year LLB programme for the 2016–2018 sessions and 526 candidates from the five-year LLB programme belonging to the 2017 batch.