UPDATE - Pakistani court ousts Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister over fake degree

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS ABOUT VERDICT

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – A Pakistani court on Tuesday disqualified the chief minister of the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region for possessing a fake educational degree, a court record said.

A three-member bench of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court unanimously declared Khalid Khursheed, who belongs to the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, disqualified from the office of the chief minister.

Khursheed was accused of obtaining a license to practice as a lawyer based on a law degree from the University of London.

Ghulam Shahzad Agha, an opposition lawmaker, had challenged Khursheed's degree, contending that it was not verified by the University of London, and was allegedly declared fake by Pakistan's Higher Education Commission as well.

Khursheed was elected as chief minister after the PTI swept the state elections in 2020.

Formerly known as the Northern Area and once part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, which borders China, was granted an autonomous status and provision of a legislative assembly in 2009. Previously, it was directly governed by Islamabad.

The region is at the confluence of the world’s greatest mountain ranges – the Karakoram, the Himalayas, the Hindukush, and the Pamir.

In April, Tanveer Ilyas, prime minister of the Pakistani-administered Kashmir, was convicted and disqualified by the region's high court for contempt of judiciary. He also belonged to the PTI.