Professor who faces sexual assault charges appointed Bacha Khan University VC

Dr Saqlain Naqvi hasn't submitted mandatory certificates as varsity where he worked earlier accuses him of misconduct

PESHAWAR: The newly-appointed vice chancellor of the Bacha Khan University (BKU), Charsadda, who was indicted on charges of sexual assault in the past, has been unable to submit his last pay and clearance certificates – two documents mandatory for holding the post.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government had selected Professor Dr Saqlain Naqvi for the position on June 9 for a three-year tenure.

Earlier, he was a professor and the dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR).

Dr Naqvi was also indicted by the Lahore High Court for sexually harassing women at the workplace.



According to universities rules, it is mandatory for a vice chancellor to submit their last pay certificate and clearance certificate before taking over as the head of a university.

To fulfil the requirement, the BKU wrote a letter to PMAS-AAUR for the issuance of Dr Naqvi’s two certificates.

In response, the PMAS-AAUR wrote back a letter on July 7 saying that the university could not issue Dr Naqvi's clearance certificate because of his misconduct.

The letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, read that the professor was bypassing prescribed channels of correspondence, hurling false allegations against his supervisors as was evident from his absence from personal hearings and wasting precious time of the administration department's officers.



The letter also mentioned the order of the Lahore High Court on April 18 in a sexual harassment case against Dr Naqvi pending adjudication before the Punjab Ombudsman for the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace.

Earlier, Dr Naqvi was penalised by the Federal Ombudsman for the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace. On the ground of jurisdiction, the case was referred to the Punjab ombudsman.



Expressing their reservations over the appointment of Dr Naqvi as the vice chancellor, senior officials at the BKU said he would further tarnish the university's already tainted image.

An official, wishing not to be named, said Dr Naqvi had replaced registrar Muhammad Ali when the latter asked him to submit his last pay certificate so that his salary could be issued.

The official also said the salary of a BKU vice chancellor was around Rs300,000 while Dr Naqvi was demanding Rs600,000. He added that the new vice chancellor travelled to the university from Chakwal every day and the extra fuel charges were being paid through the varsity's exchequer.

The university officials criticised the K-P government for appointing a controversial person as a vice chancellor and said the militancy-hit BKU was already running on a deficit budget.

When contacted, K-P Higher Education Department Additional Secretary Khalid Khan said he was unaware of these matters.