ISLAMABAD – The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has disqualified politician Jamshed Dasti after it was revealed that all seven academic degrees he claimed over the years were either fake or invalid.
A history of invalid degrees
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2002: Dasti’s matriculation certificate was cancelled.
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2005: His intermediate certificate was also declared invalid by DG Khan Board.
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2008: To meet the then graduation requirement for contesting elections, he obtained a Shahadat-ul-Almia (religious degree). When challenged in the Supreme Court, Dasti failed basic religious questions posed by a bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and resigned to avoid disqualification.
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Later years: He acquired FA and BA degrees from Islamia University Bahawalpur, which allowed him to enroll in an LLB programme. He failed his first-year law exams but used the same degrees to contest the 2024 elections, which he won.
Fresh scrutiny in 2024
Investigations reopened after his electoral victory revealed that his FA and BA degrees were also bogus. When the ECP summoned him, Dasti presented another FA certificate purportedly from the Karachi Board. But verification exposed discrepancies in his personal details.
The Karachi Board’s record showed a “Jamsheed Ahmad, son of Sultan Mahmood”, sharing the same birth year (1978) but with a different date and month. Officially, Dasti’s legal name is Jamshaid Ahmad, son of Sultan Mahmood—a mismatch that further discredited his claim.
Concealed assets add to charges
Beyond the fake degrees, the ECP also found evidence that Dasti failed to declare all his assets, a separate violation that compounded his disqualification.
Political fallout
Despite repeated warnings and past controversies, Dasti had managed to evade permanent disqualification for years. This latest ruling, however, leaves little room for political recovery, marking the end of a long saga of forged credentials and misleading claims.