Allegations of Pak CJ getting his daughter extra marks

Islamabad, Nov 26 (PTI) Pakistan's Supreme Court Chief
Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, appointed during last year's
emergency, is at the centre of a controversy over the revision
of the marks of his daughter in a high school examination to
enable her to pursue a course in medicine.

Dogar's daughter Farah's marks in the FSc
(pre-medical) examination were allegedly increased by the
Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE)
in a hasty manner to enable her to get a seat in a medical
college.

The marks Farah had originally secured were inadequate
for admission to a medical college and she was denied a seat
by the Islamic Medical College in Rawalpindi because of poor
grades.

After she applied for a revaluation of her test
papers, her grades were increased and she was accepted by the
same college against a special quota reserved for judges.

Though the FBISE has defended its move, saying Farah
was one of 201 students whose marks were revised, Minister of
State for Education Ghulam Farid Kathia told The News daily
that an "illegality" had been committed in her case. Kathia
said an inquiry would be conducted into the issue.

Opposition parties like the Pakistan Muslim League
-Nawaz (PML-N)and Imran Khan's Tehrik-e-Insaaf – which have
been calling for the sacking of Dogar as he was appointed
after he endorsed the emergency imposed by former President
Pervez Musharraf – have demanded that action be taken against
him.

PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal has called for the
immediate resignation of Dogar. Pointing out that the Chief
Justice is the "custodian of rule of law", Iqbal said it was
shameful that he was involved in breaking laws for personal
gains.

He also said the recent developments highlighted the
need to restore the judges deposed during last year's
emergency rule, including former Chief Justice Iftikhar
Muhammad Chaudhry.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has called for
referring the issue to the Supreme Judicial Council, which
acts on complaints against apex court judges.

It was "crystal clear" that Dogar's daughter was given
extra marks in violation of the law and established practices
to make her eligible for admission to any medical college, he
said.

The News daily, which first reported the matter, today
said in an editorial that Dogar had denied any role in the
events that led his daughter getting additional marks but "no
one is prepared to believe this happened all on its own".
It said "an approach had been made from judicial
offices to top people on the Federal Board of Intermediate and
Secondary Education".

The development "further undermines the authority of
Justice Dogar. Both his legal and moral right to call himself
the chief justice of Pakistan is now under question," the
editorial said.