Out of favour: Scoring jobs while the sun shines

Court moved over alleged irregularities in appointments made at NUML.

ISLAMABAD: Muhammad Abbas, a citizen of Rawalpindi, moved the court against what he termed as illegal appointments at National University of Modern Languages (NUML). In his petition, he told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that various administrative and academic positions in the university were ‘not filled in a correct manner’.

He told the court that the regional director Lahore is the brother of the university’s rector and the head of Information Technology is the rector’s son-in-law. Both of these appointments have been made without following due process.

Sources said the court has sought comments from the university administration within two weeks.

Filing the petition under Article 199 of the constitution, Abbas contended that seven regional directors and other senior academic and administrative officials were appointed without following rules and regulations. The university, its rector and director general were made respondents in the case.

A copy of the petition is available with The Express Tribune which said that section 21 of the Ordinance of NUML Service Statute was a document laying down the qualification criterion and the appointment procedure for the academic and administrative staff. He said that the irregularities committed in the appointments were made in a clandestine manner, without giving due publicity through the media. “They were in violation of the constitutional requirements, thus barring the eligible and deserving candidates from even applying and being considered for those posts,” he said.

Through his lawyer Attaullah Karim Kundi, Abbas maintained that the appointments were examples of favouritism and nepotism.

The petitioner also brought to the court’s notice that the issue of irregularities was taken up internally by the university DG, however, nothing came out of it.

Abbas mentioned that the head of the department of Information Technology was working on his position since 2006, despite not even meeting the qualifications for the job.

Abbas said the appointments were made without any lawful authority and were of no legal effect, making them liable to be set aside. “At least 16 people working on senior positions are not qualified for the respective posts,” he added.

When contacted, a spokesman of the university Muddasar Mukhtar said that the case was now sub judice and refrained from making any comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2011.