Procedural questions: Govt barred from appointing PU VC

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court on Thursday stopped the Higher Education Department from issuing a notification for the appointment of a vice chancellor at the Punjab University until a final decision was made on a petition the court is hearing.

The court issued notices to the Higher Education Department (HED) and Punjab Higher Education Commission and sought their replies by December 15.  Justice Shahid Karim issued the order on a petition filed by Aurangzeb Alamgir, Sami Uzair Khan and Wasif M Khan, candidates for the post of vice chancellor.

Saad Rasool, counsel for the petitioners, said the vacancy was announced through an advertisement on November 4. He said on April 7, the HED had issued a notification prescribing criteria for vice chancellor in 11 universities. He said earlier, on March 3, a search committee had been formed to recommend candidates for appointment.

He said the HED did not have the authority to issue the advertisement, constitute a committee and prescribe criteria for the VCs as these matters lay in the ambit of the Punjab Higher Education Commission.  He asked the court to direct the respondents to restart the selection process afresh in accordance with the Higher Education Department Act, and the Punjab Higher Education Commission Act.

The court allowed the HED to continue the selection process but stopped it from issuing a final notification till the petition was decided.

Mujahid Kamran was appointed PU vice chancellor for four years, in January 2008 and then for another four-year term in January of 2012. His second term expires on January 22, 2016.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2015.