SHC adjourns plea seeking Mukesh Kumar Chawla’s disqualification

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday has summoned educational certificates of Sindh Excise and Taxation Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla for allegedly holding a fake degree on April 3, ARY News reported.

Counsels of Election Commission of Pakistan, educational board and other respondents appeared before the court.

As soon as hearing began in the SHC, the respondent borrowed the time from the honourable court to present educational certificates of the minister.

To this, the court by ordering the respondents to appear before the court along with evidence adjourned the hearing of the case until April 3.

The petitioner had claimed in his plea that Chawla acquired educational degrees of Mukesh Kumar Bansari, hailing from Sajawal and has asked the court to disqualify Chawla.

In 2010, the Hyderabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education had officially confirmed to the University of Sindh that no person by the name of Mukesh Kumar Chawla, who was also PPP’s provincial minister for excise and taxation at that time, has passed class X and XII examinations held by the board.

The board said in response to the university’s queries about Mr Chawla’s certificates that one Mukesh Kumar Bansari did appear in matriculation and intermediate examinations and Mr Chawla’s particulars sent for verification matched with his.

The verification was conducted after a man named Jai Kumar had challenged Mukesh Kumar Chawla’s election as member of provincial assembly and sent a formal complaint to the Supreme Court, requesting it to take suo motu action.