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Friday March 29, 2024

SHC rejects Axact CEO’s protective bail application

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday rejected an application for protective bail filed by the central character in the fake degrees scandal, Axact Chief Executive Officer Shoaib Shaikh.

Announcing the verdict, the SHC also ordered authorities not to harass the complainant.

Earlier today, the high court had reserved its judgment on the bail application filed by attorney Anwar Mansoor on

By GEO URDU
May 25, 2015
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday rejected an application for protective bail filed by the central character in the fake degrees scandal, Axact Chief Executive Officer Shoaib Shaikh.

Announcing the verdict, the SHC also ordered authorities not to harass the complainant.

Earlier today, the high court had reserved its judgment on the bail application filed by attorney Anwar Mansoor on behalf of the CEO of Axact, which is being investigated for making millions of dollars by selling fake degrees online.

Hearing the application, SHC judge Justice Ahmed Ali Shaikh asked Mansoor how the court could grant protective bail when there was no case filed against his client. To which the lawyer replied that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which is investigating Axact for a fake degree scam, has the right to carry out arrests.

Rejecting claims of sealing Axact offices, a lawyer for the FIA said Shaikh’s application was premature, as the investigating authority was not arresting Shaikh.

Responding to the Axact CEO's application, the FIA lawyer said that an inquiry was being conducted into the alleged scam. He added that no case has yet been filed against Shoaib Shaikh, but that the investigating authority would act according to the law if any substantive evidence is found.

He asked the court to dismiss the bail application.

Appearing in court, the deputy attorney general also said that no offices of Axact in Karachi had been sealed. He said that Shaikh was moving freely and visiting his lawyers’ offices.

Announcing its verdict later this evening, the high court judge dismissed Shaikh’s application for protective bail.

Axact became the focus of a major controversy when the News York Times published an investigative report claiming that the Pakistan-based company reaped millions of dollars by selling fake academic degrees online.

Following the NYT story, Pakistan authorities were quick to act as Interior Minister chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to launch a probe into the company.

The company’s offices in Karachi and Rawalpindi have since been raided by teams of FIA investigators, who seized over 30 terabytes of data, which sources say contain evidence that the company was involved in producing diplomas.

Several former Axact employees have also come to the fore since the story broke, corroborating the claims made in the NYT report.

On Saturday, a host of senior executives and journalists resigned from Axact’s media group.

Among those who resigned was senior journalist Kamran Khan, the media group’s news channels CEO Azhar Abbas, and senior anchors Asma Sherazi and Iftikhar Ahmad.