Some 15 months ago today, the
IT company Axact became the target of the legal action following the
publication of a hard-hitting investigative piece on allegedly
fake degrees it issued. The report by investigative reporter Declan
Welsh threw light into alleged practices of the IT company issuing fake degrees
to anyone who could afford it.
In short, the report exposed the status of Axact as an alleged degree
mill, with thousands of fake universities under its name online. It should also
be mentioned that during this time, the company was also set to launch its
media channel Bol as well.
Following the
legal action against Axact, its CEO, Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh and some top executives
were taken under police custody and jailed. Computers and equipment
at their Karachi head office was also seized for forensic examination.
Employees at Axact and Bol found their future a lot more uncertain as a result,
with salaries stopped and the management arrested.
After a
15-month long investigation, the prosecutors failed to find any evidence in
some cases (while others are still pending), leading to the release of Shoaib
Shaikh and others on bail from Sindh High Court and subsequently Islamabad
High Court.
Following the
release, Shoaib Shaikh delivered a message to ‘Axact-wallahs’, promising to
restart his company and pay the outstanding salaries to the Axact employees
under a glitzy PR campaign that proclaimed ‘Pehlay Say
bhi ziada’.
And now,
echoing that same slogan, Shoaib Shaikh is back with a new message for his
media company, Bol.
Is Shoaib ready to bring back
Bol? Will his media channel hit airwaves sooner or later? This is the question
that is on many minds right now, especially considering how his legal troubles
have impacted the company’s finances.
Many will
remember how the Bol-ARY deal
didn’t materialize following
negotiations between their owners.
Tall promises
are one thing. Only time will tell if Shoaib Shaikh and co. will succeed in
bringing back Axact and Bol. And even if they did, will they be the same as
they used to be before?
