BKU VC’s appointment challenged in PHC

Varsity employee contends the appointment was in contravention of the rules

SHABQADAR: The appointment of a new vice chancellor at the Bacha Khan University has been challenged in the higher court since the official has been charged with sexual harassment.

Shafiur Rehman, an employee of the Bacha Khan University (BKU), through his lawyer Muhib Jan and Muhammad Irshad, has moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC), challenging the appointment of BKU Vice Chancellor Dr Saqleen Naqvi, claiming that the appointment was against the law.

The varsity’s registrar, the vice chancellor, academic search committee, the Higher Education Commission, the higher education department of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Arid Agriculture University of Rawalpindi have been named as the respondents.

In the petition, Rehman claims that Dr Naqvi was convicted of sexually harassing a female scholar at the Arid Agriculture University in Peshawar. He was thus no longer Sadiq or Ameen and thus cannot be appointed as a vice chancellor under the rules.

Further, Rehman stated in his petition that Dr Naqvi’s appointment was politically motivated since there were many in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa who were qualified for the post but had been ignored for the post owing to personal likes and dislikes by the concerned authorities.

The petitioner added that the appointment was against article 27, 25, 5, 4 and 37 of the Constitution and urged the court to declare the appointment as null and void, terminating the VC.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued by Dr Naqvi, he stated that he had been appointed after securing a no-objection certificate from the Arid Agriculture University in the case. Moreover, he said that the varsity had also issued him his last pay certificate.

Responding to allegations of sexual harassment, Dr Naqvi said that the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench had suspended the decision of the federal ombudsman against him.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2017.