SC seeks rules for VCs' appointment at public-sector varsities

Apex court hears petition against appointment of Peoples University Nawabshah VC

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) ordered on Thursday the Sindh government to submit rules regarding the appointment of vice-chancellors (VC) at public-sector universities.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, directed the advocate-general to submit details regarding appointments of VCs in all the public-sector varsities within one week.

The bench issued these directives while hearing a petition at the SC's Karachi registry challenging the contractual appointment and subsequent extension in tenure of Azam Yusfani as vice-chancellor of the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women, Nawabshah.



The petitioner, Professor Noor Muhammad Khaskheli, informed the bench that the respondent, Yusfani, had joined Pakistan International Airlines in 1997 on a contractual basis and was still continuing his job at the national flag-carrier. He claimed that in the meantime, the respondent was also appointed as VC in the varsity on contractual basis in 2011. The petitioner also informed the court that recently Yusfani was granted an extension upon expiry of his service tenure.

The petitioner's lawyer argued that the respondent was performing two jobs simultaneously on contractual basis. The judges were informed that Yusfani's contractual appointment and subsequent extension was in clear violation to a judgment rendered by the apex court in 2013, wherein contractual appointments were declared illegal and unlawful.

Advocate-General Zamir Ghumro informed the judges that Yusfani was appointed as VC upon the recommendation of search committee. He added that as per SC directives, now the VCs in public universities are appointed on recommendations of a search committee.



The bench told the AG to submit procedures adopted by the Sindh government to appoint the VCs of the public-sector universities. The AG was further directed to explain to what extent the procedure laid down by the Higher Education Commission is followed while making these appointments.