Islamabad:March 26:Eminent Poet Kishwar Naheed presided over the Mushaira A string of allegations between two senior faculty members at Department of Defence and Strategic Studies of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) led the whole affair into the court that has directed both of them to submit their replies till March 27.
The notices have been served by the Islamabad High Court on the writ petition filed by Assistant Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nasrullah Mirza in which he accused Prof. Dr. Riffat Hussain of financial corruption and change in official record while serving as Press Counsellor at Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC.

The petitioner stated that a review of file No A 8874/94 revealed that mother-in-law of Dr. Riffat Hussain, ex-Press Counsellor, Embassy of Pakistan, Washington DC, was residing with him but in Group Enrolment Card of July 5, 1995, she was shown as an employee as well as an eligible dependent. The card was signed by Dr. Riffat Hussain himself and the responsibility for mis-declaration and misrepresentation of facts, therefore, devolved on him.

The petitioner maintained that the official data of the Office of the Finance and Accounts Officer, Embassy of Pakistan, Washington DC, on August 6, 1997 showed that medical bill in respect of her mother-in-law amounted to $43,223 that is still recoverable from Dr. Riffat Hussain.

However, Dr. Riffat Hussain has categorically stated during his conversation with this correspondent that former President Rafiq Tarar had written off the amount on the recommendation of the concerned authorities that carried out detailed investigation into this matter.

He alleged that PhD degree of Dr. Muhammad Nasrullah Mirza has been proved fake due to which he is trying to create a tense situation where he could be able to term any action by the university administration as an act of victimisation.

Muhammad Nasrullah Mirza told this scribe that allegations about his PhD degrees are baseless as he completed his PhD thesis and passed viva, adding “There was a requirement to publish my thesis in the form of a booklet that I failed to do in specified timeframe.”The news.