LHC CJ orders verification of PBC candidates’ degrees

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Monday ordered verification of LLB degrees of lawyers taking part in Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) elections scheduled for December 31. Justice Khan directed all the candidates to submit their degrees to the PBC Chairman/Attorney General Pakistan within 48 hours for verification from the relevant universities.

Chief Justice Khan was hearing a petition filed by one Amir Shah. The petition was fixed before the court for hearing as an objection case after the LHC registrar office put an objection to its maintainability. A federal law officer raised objection on maintainability of the petition during the hearing. He stated that the candidates belonging to other provinces were also taking part in the PBC elections, therefore, the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter. At this stage, the court questioned steps taken for implementation of the Supreme Court orders for verification of degrees.

The court observed that it previously got verified LLB degrees of the candidates of Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) and now their degrees of Matric, FA and BA were also being verified. Subsequently, the court ordered verification of degrees of candidates taking part in PBC elections. During the hearing, the Chief Justice also hinted at getting verified the degrees of judicial officers.

The petitioner had requested the court for directions on verification of degrees of candidates taking part in PBC elections as the LHC earlier got the degrees of PbBC candidates verified from relevant universities.