Karachi Feb 26 (TNS): The Axact degrees scandal case took a new turn on Monday after the Sindh High Court accepted an appeal of the Federal Investigation Agency, seeking the retrial of the case in a trial court.
The FIA has also challenged the acquittal of Axact CEO Shoaib Sheikh in the case. The SHC directed the sessions/ trail court to sum up the case within three months.
Meanwhile, Sheikh has filed an application, seeking protective bail after the FIA officials tried to arrest him outside the SHC. However, his counsels intervened and told the FIA officials that the court has only allowed reopening the case. Sheikh and his team are inside the court as his protective bail application is yet to be adjudicated.
The sessions/court in Karachi has decided to charge-sheet all the accused in the fake degrees case and Sheikh had been directed to appear before the court on March 3.
The SHC after accepting the FIA appeal directed the trial court to reopen the case after the cybercrime agency contended that new evidence and supporting material has surfaced to validate their claim that Shoaib Sheikh trough his agents traded and sold fake degrees linked to various international universities.
The Axact scandal surfaced in 2015 when New York Times run a story detailing the fake degrees and related black money the company earned by selling fake degrees. Shoaib Sheikh has been acquitted and bailed by various courts after the FIA failed to prove its case in a lengthy court trial. Sheikh also remained behind the bars before he got bail.
The Supreme Court has also taken notice of the fake degree case and asked the FIA to submit a report within 10 days. During the hearing of a case, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had observed that the scandal had hung their heads in shame and the Axact scandal has defamed and embarrassed the country internationally. The chief justice has vowed to take up the case on merit.
The prosecution and the FIA failed to prove their cases in different courts despite claiming to have collected sufficient evidence to substantiate their allegations. Meanwhile, big media houses with vested interest also jumped into the fray with two big groups launching a series of smear campaigns against the Axact Company and its TV channel.
