Degree verification: IIUI additional director in hot water

Petition filed against Hassan Aftab Kazmi’s appointment against BPS-19 post.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday issued notice to three officials of the International Islamic University (IIU) in a case challenging appointment of additional director in the human resources department at IIU.

Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC issued notices to the president, director general and additional director Hassan Aftab Kazmi.

Lawyer Muhammad Asim Riaz Awan through his counsel Raja Saifur Rehman has approached the IHC challenging Kazmi’s appointment against the BPS-19 post.

The petitioner has prayed that Kazmi be barred
from working as it would amount to legitimising an illegal act.

The petitioner argued that Kazmi’s appointment is against the approved rules and that he lacks the required qualifications and experience mentioned in the advertisement for the post he was hired against.

Earlier, the IIUI president had constituted an investigation committee to verify Kazmi’s executive MBA (EMBA) and other education credentials.

The committee comprised IIU staffers Prof Dr Engr Muhammad Afzal Khan, Dr Rahmat Ellahi and Malik Zahoor Ahmed.

In the report, it emerged that Kazmi lacked the required experience. The experience he showed was as a primary schoolteacher, which is irrelevant for the post, he stated.

The HR deputy director and assistant director repeatedly asked Kazmi to provide verification of his EMBA, which he failed to do, states the petition.

Rehman stated that in a letter issued on June 9, 2011, the HEC has clarified that an EMBA was equivalent to a post-graduate diploma, rather than a degree. Moreover, Kazmi failed to comply with directions issued by IIU to provide an equivalence certificate for his EMBA, he added.

The committee had come to the conclusion that his EMBA is not recognised by the HEC, Rehman stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2015.