Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday, while hearing a case pertaining to fake degrees of pilots, summoned heads of all Pakistani airlines as well Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to appear in the next hearing.

"Isn't it a matter of clash of interests?" asked the chief justice when told that the prime minister is also the head of Airblue. "Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will have to appear in the capacity of a chief executive officer and not a premier."

The chief justice, who was heading a three-member bench, said that he was issuing notices to heads of all Pakistani airlines as the matter has been pending for the last four months and reports in this regard have not been submitted as yet. He directed the heads of Pakistan International Airlines, Airblue Limited, Serene Air and Shaheen Air International to appear before the bench.

During the hearing, Civil Aviation Authority Director Nasir Ali Shah told the court that the authority has received the reports on pilots' degrees from Shaheen International Airline and Serene Air today in Karachi, while the report of Airblue was received on Wednesday.

Talking about PIA, Ali Shah said that degrees of 1,972 people were verified while 24 pilots were found to be holding fake degrees.

The chief executive officers of the airlines were directed to appear in person at the SC Karachi registry on Saturday.

Lawyers possessing fake degrees

Later during the hearing, the chief justice took a suo motu notice of lawyers holding fake degrees and sought a report on the issue form all bar councils within a month.

The apex court also issued a notice to the Higher Education Commission, directing the officials to cooperate with bar councils on the issue of degrees verification.

The chief justice remarked that there were some lawyers who were practicing law without degrees while others were appearing in the court without licences.