Pakistani court ousts Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister over fake degree

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 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 autonomous status and the 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 Supreme Court for contempt of judiciary. He also belonged to the PTI.