NAB sacks senior officer found with fake degree

Usman Manzoor

Such is the level of corruption in the country that the menace has also crept into the country’s premier anti-corruption watchdog—NAB.

In one of the first instances of documented corruption and fraud, the National Accountability Bureau has found one of its senior officers with fake degrees, and the NAB chairman has dismissed him from service.

According to documents, available with The News, NAB has terminated the services of one of its senior acting Additional Directors, Muhammad Hanif Mahesar, Acting Additional Director NAB (Sindh), with immediate effect after Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU), Khairpur, declared the Master’s in Economics degree possessed by the said officer as fake and bogus.

The fake degree saga started when Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Abid Sher Ali, being chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Education, announced to get the degrees of all the parliamentarians verified which resulted in ouster of at least 50 MPs. Many cases of fake degrees against parliamentarians are still pending in courts while pressure mounted on the government institutions and departments to get the degrees of their employees verified from the Higher Education Commission and relevant universities.

However, this case of fake degree holder in a corruption watchdog is first of its kind and to avoid any criticism, NAB hyperactively dismissed the culprit from service.Sources in NAB say that degrees and other documents of all the employees are being scrutinised so that the Bureau may get rid of the bad eggs.

Regarding the instant case, NAB letter bearing No3(80)/S/2000-Admn-I, dated June 19, 2014, says that ‘the competent authority has imposed a major penalty i.e. “Dismissal from Service” under Section 11.03 (1) (b) (iv) of the National Accountability Bureau’s Employees Terms & Conditions of Services (TCS-2002) upon Muhammad Hanif Mahesar, acting Additional Director NAB, Sindh, with immediate effect.’

This letter has been issued with regard to Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, letter No.PA/CE/SALU/KHP/387, dated 15-05-2014, in which it was confirmed that the said officer holding a key position in Sindh NAB was holding a fake Master’s degree in Economics. NAB Director General, Sindh, has been asked to undertake all formalities while AGPR has also been informed about the development to do the needful.

Source: thenews