Court declares appointment of BIEK chairman illegal

A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court, headed by Justice Adnan Al Kareem Memon, has declared the appointment of Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) Chairman Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah as illegal.

An officer of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Islamabad, Zulfiqar was appointed as the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Mirpurkhas chairman and given the additional charge of the BIEK chairman in July per a notification issued by the Sindh government's universities and boards department.

Sindh government, in July, had given BIEK charge to Zulfiqar Shah after the reappointment of BIEK chairman Prof Naseem Memon was challenged in SHC.

Subsequently, Zulifiqar's appointment was also challenged for being against the rules and regulations.

A petitioner in Mirpurkhas has also challenged the Zulfiqar's appointment ast BISE Mirpurkhas chairman because he was an officer of Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Islamabad. Zulfiqar was allegedly directly inducted to service by way of recommendations made by the Services General Administration and Coordination Department (SGA&CD).

The SHC bench in Karachi in its written judgment released late on Thursday stated that there was no mandate with the Sindh government and the authority concerned, under which the defendant was appointed to BIEK under the requisition of the Services and General Administration Department (SGA&CD). The court in its written judgment stated that the appointment of Zuliqar as BIEK and BISE Mirpurkhas chairman as illegal and annulled the requisition orders of SGA&CD. SHC has ordered Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah to be sent back to his original department the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Islamabad.

The court said that the controlling authority has the power to appoint the chairman, secretary and controller on the recommendations of the search committee made under the competitive process.