Axact fake degree case: IHC bench told judge freed accused ignoring evidence

ISLAMABAD: A division bench of Islamabad High Court (IHC) hearing the Axact fake degree scandal was on Monday told that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had produced three separate reports, prosecution witnesses and victims before the trial court but the judge acquitted the 27 accused, ignoring the evidence.

The bench, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, was hearing the FIA’s appeal against the acquittal of Axact officials by the trial judge Pervez-ul-Qadir Memon.

Legal counsel for FIA Hamid Ali Shah, advocate, argued that the FIA had produced three different types of reports, five Axact employees namely Qasim Shehzad, Jamshaid Arshad, Tayyab Ahmed, Faisal Naeem and Zulfiqar Ahmed as prosecution witnesses and two victims, Tehseen Haider Kazmi and Umar Islam, before the trial judge and also got their statements recorded with the trial court.

Justice Athar Minallah asked the FIA if a public notice had been issued in this regard. Legal counsel for Axact officials Raja Rizwan Abbasi advocate said the notice was issued just on papers and not a single person from around the world was a complainant against the Axact.

The FIA legal counsel however said that evidence was enough to establish that the crime had been committed. Directing the Axact counsel to complete his arguments, the court put off the matter till Tuesday (today).