‘Unfair promotion’: SC puts FDE head on notice

Petitioner alleges that DG Kayani does not have sufficient academic qualifications.


Azam Khan May 16, 2012

ISLAMABAD:


The appointment of an allegedly unqualified person as the head of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) drew the Supreme Court’s (SC) ire on Tuesday.


The court gave FDE Director General (DG) Atif Mehmood Kayani until Friday to respond to allegations that he does not meet the requirements for his post.

A three-member bench of the SC, headed by Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing a complaint field by Dr Shahnaz A Riaz, a PhD scholar who said she was consistently denied promotion to the post of FDE DG. On SC’s intervention on an earlier petition, Dr Riaz was promoted to the next grade (which would have made her the DG) but retrospectively transferred to Academy of Education Planning and Management. She filed a fresh petition in the SC.

On Tuesday, the court stopped the proceedings when Dr Riaz alleged that DG Kiyani “has not even completed his matriculation”. The bench directed that Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Secretary Imtiaz Inayat Elahi and DG Kayani be immediately called to respond to the allegations.

Kayani failed to show up despite being contacted several times and the passage of three hours. The bench expressed surprise over his “reluctance” to face them.

Later, CADD Secretary Elahi appeared along with Joint Secretary Rafiq Tahir. They sought until Friday from the court to file a “comprehensive” reply.

Elahi said, “[This is the] first time this case has come to my knowledge, and I will verify it thoroughly.”

He told the court that Kayani’s appointment was not notified and in principle a panel should be made to select the FDE’s Director General. The panel was not constituted in Kayani’s case.

He added however that as far as he knows, Kayani does possess a graduate degree, in line with the academic requirements for the post.

Kayani assumed charge as the FDE Director General on May 23, 2011, according to FDE’s website. In all, the FDE monitors 418 federal colleges and schools in urban and rural areas, with a total enrolment of over 200,000 students.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2012.

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