Prisoner facing capital punishment didn't pass law degree during imprisonment
Prisoner facing capital punishment didn't pass law degree during imprisonment
LAHORE (Web Desk) – The news circulating on social media outlets related to an imprisoned offender becoming a lawyer in Gujranwala is misleading.
A post shared on Facebook claimed that a convicted felon has succeeded in completing his law degree while serving time on death row. The post was shared on December 29. It had a picture of a young man along with a caption stating that, “A prisoner in Gujranwala who after eight years became a lawyer.”
The user further added that, “You may not believe this but Ayaz has come out of the jail as a lawyer, he completed his FA, BA, MA and then Bar while in prison.”
The post was shared by many and also by a Facebook page titled, Law Students Commission Pakistan.
It was later confirmed that Muhammad Ayaz completed his bachelor’s and master’s while imprisoned at the Central Jail in Gujranwala, but he enrolled in a Bachelor of Law (LLB) programme after his release.
In telephonic conversation with a news outlet, Ayaz said he was convicted in 2010 for a murder in Gujranwala. A district and session court handed down the death sentence to Ayaz and three others. The prisoners then filed an appeal against their conviction in the Lahore High Court.
While his appeal was pending in the Court, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2014 and a Master of Arts in 2016 from the University of Gujrat, all the while locked up in a cell at the Central Jail in Gujranwala.
Ayaz was acquitted in 2017. He said, “Seven days after my release, I enrolled in a law program in Lahore.”
Ayaz obtained a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the School of Law, affiliated with the University of Punjab, in 2020.
Ehtisham Goraya, the assistant administrator, at the School of Law in Lahore also confirmed to the news outlet that Ayaz was enrolled in the college between 2017 and 2020.
He then passed his Law Graduate Assessment Test and enrolled with the Punjab Bar Council on September 13, 2021.
Asif Mahmood Randhawa, general secretary of the Gujranwala Bar Association, also confirmed that Ayaz has been a member of the district bar association since 2021.
