No 'meat' in fake attendance scam involving 27 Pak Punjab Assembly MPs: Speaker

Islamabad, Jan 17(ANI): Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Iqbal Khan believes there is no 'meat' in the fake attendance scam involving 27 parliamentarians, which surfaced on January 12.

During the question hour session last Wednesday, when there were only 27 members present in the Punjab Assembly, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah brought the attendance register, which showed that 50 members were attending the Assembly's meeting that day.

Sanaullah read out the names of the MPAs whose attendance was made, but they did not turn up for the meeting. It was also revealed during the meeting that some MPAs had not been attending the assembly sessions for the past many months, but the records showed their regular attendance.

Although the PA speaker said he would certainly take action against the Punjab Assembly MPs if any meat were found in the scandal, he was of the view that there was nothing much in the case.

Talking to The News, Rana did not sound enthusiastic to pursue the matter that has further smeared the reputation of the parliamentarians, after the fake degree scam involving scores of Pakistani lawmakers.

"I don't think there is anything substantial in this case," said the constitutional head of the Punjab Assembly, adding that perhaps a mountain was made out of a molehill.

But on being pressed later, Rana said he was probing the matter on his own, and would certainly take action against the responsible if he found any truth in the reported scandal.

According to Kanwar Dilshad, former secretary of the Election Commision of Pakistan, the scandalous act of MPs marking fake attendance to secure a daily allowance of 4,000-5,000 rupees was a fit case of disqualification.

Dilshad was quoted as saying on Friday that the reported conduct of the MPs was a violation of Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

It was for the speaker to initiate legal proceedings against the alleged cheaters, get the matter probed and then approach the Election Commission of Pakistan to get the culprits disqualified, he added. (ANI)