KARACHI - Additional Sessions Judge (south) Sarah Junejo on Saturday recused herself from hearing the bail plea of Axact CEO Shoaib Shaikh.

Judge Junejo, who issued adjournment orders from her chamber, advised the defendant's legal counsel to obtain a new date for the hearing till the case is transferred to another judge.

Junejo is the third judge to excuse from hearing cases against the Axact CEO.

On Friday, Sindh High Court's Judge Salahuddin Panwar had refused to hear Shaikh's bail plea, transferring it to Judge Saleem Jaiser who also recused himself from hearing the petition. Judge Jaiser had then forwarded the bail petition to Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar.

During today's hearing, Shaikh failed to appear before the court, however, co-defendants Zeeshan Anwar and Zeeshan Ahmed remained present in the courtroom.

Shaikh's lawyer Ahteshamullah, who had expressed no-confidence in Junejo during a previous hearing, protested the issuance of orders from the judge's chambers, demanding that she should appear in the courtroom. Later, he requested that the case be transferred to another court.

The next hearing of both money laundering and fake degree cases will take place on March 29.

The Axact scandal surfaced in May 2015 when The New York Times published a report had claimed the company sold fake diplomas and degrees online through hundreds of fictitious schools, making “tens of millions of dollars annually”.

The FIA had then filed a plea against the acquittal of Shaikh in 2016 in a money laundering case, arguing that he was exonerated from the charges by the trial court despite strong evidence that proved his involvement in money laundering.

According to the FIA, Shaikh is involved in an illegal transfer of Rs170.17 million to a Dubai-based firm, Chanda Exchange Company, in April 2014.