PIA’s Iqbal Javed Bajwa resigns after fake degree scandal

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Deputy Station Manager in Birmingham, Iqbal Javed Bajwa, has reportedly resigned after it was discovered that his educational certificate was fake. A PIA spokesperson confirmed the development, stating that the resignation was sought by higher management due to the submission of a “fake” educational certificate.

Iqbal Javed Bajwa, who is reportedly the brother of former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, was served a show-cause notice on July 13, 2024, through PIA’s finance manager in Birmingham. The notice demanded that he verify the authenticity of his Intermediate certificate within seven days or face termination for violating the PIA Employees Disciplinary Policy 2019.

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Upon investigation, it was revealed that the Intermediate certificate submitted by Iqbal could not be verified. The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Lahore confirmed that no one with the roll number 25703 under the name of Iqbal Javed Bajwa had passed the Intermediate examination. The PIA management received this confirmation in an official letter from the board.

The notice issued to Iqbal was part of a broader directive from the national airline, which last August required all employees to submit their educational certificates and documents for verification.

Sources indicated that Iqbal has been a long-serving employee of PIA, initially recruited at the airline’s Rawalpindi office in 1977. He later relocated to the United Kingdom in the late 1980s, where he acquired local regular employee status.