ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court overturned the acquittal of Chief Executive Officer of software company Axact, Shoaib Shaikh, and other officials of the company in the fake degrees case by a sessions court.
The directives were issued by a two-member bench of the court comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb on an appeal filed by the Federal Investigation Agency against the acquittal by Additional District & Sessions Judge.
The IHC ordered the sessions judge Islamabad (West) to decide the matter after hearing the arguments again, however, it allowed the accused to submit new surety bonds and secure bail.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/judge-confesses-to-accepting-bribe-for-acquitting-shoaib-shaikh-in-fake-degree-case/
In a hearing of the appeal last month, Deputy Attorney General Raja Khalid Mehmood Khan had requested the retrial of the accused because they had been acquitted by additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Pervaizul Qadir Memon after receiving a bribe.
Pervaizul Qadir Memon had acquitted Shaikh and others in the fake degrees case on October 31, 2016, however, the judge was sacked in February 2018 after he confessed to have received a Rs5 million bribe for acquitting the accused.
The issue of Axact made headlines across international media in 2015 when a New York Times report outlined how the company had allegedly earned millions of dollars from ‘scams involving fake degrees, non-existent online universities and manipulation of customers’.
Shoaib Shaikh and six directors of Axact were detained by FIA officials on May 27, 2015, when thousands of fake degrees were recovered from the company’s offices during a raid.
Umair Hamid, a vice president of Axact, was last year sentenced to 21 months in prison in the US for his role in the international diploma mill scheme.
