Jawaid Iqbal Bajwa, the Pakistan International Airlines’ deputy station manager in Birmingham, has been relieved of his duties due to the discovery of a fake intermediate certificate.

The Lahore Board declared his certificate “fraudulent”. Although a notice was issued to him, no response was received.

According to a PIA spokesperson, investigations confirmed that Jawaid’s intermediate certificate was fake. Sources stated that despite the evidence, he was “initially reluctant to resign.” He was “ultimately pressured” to submit his resignation through family intervention after the board’s findings.

On July 30, Iqbal received a show-cause notice from PIA’s finance manager in Birmingham. Notably, Jawaid is the eldest of five brothers of former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa. He began his career with the PIA in the Rawalpindi office in 1977.

Jawaid, who acquired British citizenship in the late 1980s, was over 73 years old at the time of his forced resignation from national flag carrier.

He “received significant leniency” despite the revelation of his fake degree, allowing him to retain all financial benefits from PIA. In contrast, other national flag carrier employees found with fake degrees faced termination and were subjected to legal action by the Federal Investigation Agency.

In his tenure, the former army chief, and his sister-in-law, Asma Tariq Bajwa, also served as the head of PIA’s Human Resources Department.