No more delays: Court appoints VCs at three varsities

Order comes after government failed to appoint heads in one month


Our Correspondent December 20, 2016
PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has provisionally appointed vice-chancellors at three public-sector universities after removing their predecessors while allowing another acting VC to continue on the position.

On November 14, an LHC single bench had ordered the removal of acting vice-chancellors at these four universities and directed the Punjab government to fill the posts in accordance with law in one month.

On Monday, a division bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah ordered the provisional appointment of Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed, Dr Mohammad Zubair and Dr Zafar Mueen Nasar as vice-chancellors of University of Sargodha, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology in Multan and the Punjab University, respectively. Dr Uzma Qureshi has been allowed to continue as the vice-chancellor of Lahore College for Women University.

The court picked up these names from the list of nominees already finalised by the VCs search committee formed by the government. The judges allowed the VCs of seven other universities to continue till the petition is decided.

Those permitted to keep their offices are Dr Samina Amin Qadri of the Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi; Dr Hassan Amir Shah of Government College University, Lahore; Dr Rauf-e-Azam of the University of Education, Lahore; Dr Tahir Amir of Bahauddin Zakariya University of Multan; Dr Muhammad Khalique Ahmed of Ghazi University in Dera Ghazi Khan; Dr Talat Afzal of the Government Sadiq Degree College for Women University in Bahawalpur; and Dr Athar Mahboob of the Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology in Rahim Yar Khan.

The court ruled that these VCs, who were appointed on August 27, 2015, shall provisionally act as VCs till the disposal of the instant appeal.

The latest orders came on an appeal of the Punjab government, challenging the November 14 order of the LHC’s single bench. The government had submitted the judgment was against the law, contending the subject of education was devolved to the provinces after 18th Constitutional Amendment and appointment of VCs at public-sector universities fell within the provincial domain.

Further amendments, the government argued, have been brought in the laws related to state-run universities through ‘The Public-Sector Universities (Amendment) Act, 2012’, providing an elaborate process of appointment of VCs. The provincial government believes the appointment of VCs does not fall within the ambit of the Higher Education Commission under ‘The Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002’.

The court has issued notices for January 12 to the respondents for submitting their replies. Notices were also sent to Attorney General of Pakistan and Advocate General of Punjab for legal assistance.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2016.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ