ADاشتہار / AdvertisementGoogle Ad
Former AJK Minister’s State Subject Certificate CancelledAzad Kashmir
The AJK President approved cancelling former minister Muhammad Asim Sharif Butt’s state subject certificate, issued in 2004, after a court declared it fake and the cabinet decided on October 26.
Share:
The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday approved the cancellation of the state subject certificate of former AJK minister Muhammad Asim Sharif Butt, and the AJK Board of Revenue has issued a notification to that effect.
According to the notification, the certificate had been issued in favour of Asim Sharif, a resident of Androon Haram Gate, Mohalla Tillanwali, Multan, on December 9, 2004. The decision was taken in light of a court ruling declaring the certificate fake and a subsequent cabinet decision taken on October 26, 2026.
ADاشتہار / AdvertisementGoogle Ad
The cancellation brings to a close a long-running dispute over Butt’s eligibility to hold public office in Azad Kashmir. The controversy began when fellow members of the AJK Legislative Assembly challenged the validity of his state subject certificate in the High Court, after which the court ordered an inquiry into whether the document was genuine.
According to The Azadi Times, a judicial inquiry conducted by the Deputy Commissioner (Rehabilitation) of Mirpur concluded that Butt had failed to defend the authenticity of his certificate, and the inquiry report — submitted to the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the High Court and the Commissioner of Rehabilitation — declared the certificate fraudulent. The state subject certificate is a mandatory legal requirement for holding public office in Azad Kashmir.
The matter had also been raised in court through a writ petition filed by former minister Muhammad Tahir Khokhar, who contended that four Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf members elected from Pakistan-based refugee constituencies, including Asim Sharif, had contested elections on forged state subject certificates. The High Court accepted the petition for regular hearing in 2023.
Asim Sharif Butt served as a member of the AJK Legislative Assembly on a seat reserved for refugees and held the portfolio of Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs for five years. He was elected on a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ticket in the July 2021 elections from LA-42, one of the six seats reserved for Pakistan-based refugees from the Indian-occupied Kashmir Valley.
The state subject certificate is a key document establishing a person’s status as a state subject of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and it is a requirement for contesting elections to the Legislative Assembly on seats reserved for refugees. The cancellation follows the judicial finding that the certificate was not genuine, after which the matter was placed before the cabinet for a final decision.
Officials said the Board of Revenue has formally cancelled the certificate and issued the notification, completing the process set in motion by the court ruling and the cabinet’s decision.
Related Coverage
