Illegal appointment?: KU VC issued notice for hiring retired employees
Petitioner alleges that the varsity’s management was illegally hiring retired employees.
The petitioner said that the vice chancellor had the authority to create and fill temporary posts for a period, not exceeding six months. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court issued notice to the University of Karachi’s Vice-Chancellor (VC) on Tuesday for re-hiring retired employees on a contractual basis which is allegedly in violation of the law.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Nadeem Shaikh, told the court that the institution’s VC was hiring retired university employees on three to six-month contracts or as daily-wage employees, despite the fact that the varsity was currently facing administrative shortcomings and was under heavy financial burdens.
“This is a violation of the university act and is causing a non-recoverable monetary loss to an already financially crippled university,” his lawyer contended.
The petitioner, Waliur Rehman, said that the vice chancellor had the authority to create and fill temporary posts for a period, not exceeding six months. All such actions by the VC, however, were to be reported to and subsequently subject to approval from the syndicate which would decide if they were in compliance to the Act and Statutes, he added.
Rehman alleged, however, that the VC had appointed a retired professor of the Zoology department, Dr Sohail Barkati, as his advisor, permitting him to use the pro-vice chancellor’s office room in the administration building, where he had access to sensitive university functionaries such as the finance office, the accounts office and the Registrar Office.
The advisor, Sohail Barkati, was currently chairing the building utilization committee, the planning and development department, the engineering department as well as coordinating several important financial matters and playing a role in signing memorandums of understanding between the university and several private companies which were not legally vetted, he alleged.
A retired professor of zoology, who had no experience and credentials in the fields of engineering, finance, accounts and legal matters, was appointed as the vice chancellor’s advisor to oversee such matters. The appointment failed to fulfill the requirements laid by the university’s rules and Barkati had even been given an extension which was in conflict with the university code and was a violation of Supreme Court orders, he said.
Rehman pleaded to the court to direct the KU vice chancellor, through its Registrar, to abide by the apex court’s orders and remove all the rehired and/or post-retirement contractual employees from the university. He also requested to bar the advisor from performing and/or interfering in the official matters of the varsity.
After the preliminary hearing, the bench headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, issued notice to the KU vice chancellor and others for a date to be fixed later by the office.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2013.
The Sindh High Court issued notice to the University of Karachi’s Vice-Chancellor (VC) on Tuesday for re-hiring retired employees on a contractual basis which is allegedly in violation of the law.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Nadeem Shaikh, told the court that the institution’s VC was hiring retired university employees on three to six-month contracts or as daily-wage employees, despite the fact that the varsity was currently facing administrative shortcomings and was under heavy financial burdens.
“This is a violation of the university act and is causing a non-recoverable monetary loss to an already financially crippled university,” his lawyer contended.
The petitioner, Waliur Rehman, said that the vice chancellor had the authority to create and fill temporary posts for a period, not exceeding six months. All such actions by the VC, however, were to be reported to and subsequently subject to approval from the syndicate which would decide if they were in compliance to the Act and Statutes, he added.
Rehman alleged, however, that the VC had appointed a retired professor of the Zoology department, Dr Sohail Barkati, as his advisor, permitting him to use the pro-vice chancellor’s office room in the administration building, where he had access to sensitive university functionaries such as the finance office, the accounts office and the Registrar Office.
The advisor, Sohail Barkati, was currently chairing the building utilization committee, the planning and development department, the engineering department as well as coordinating several important financial matters and playing a role in signing memorandums of understanding between the university and several private companies which were not legally vetted, he alleged.
A retired professor of zoology, who had no experience and credentials in the fields of engineering, finance, accounts and legal matters, was appointed as the vice chancellor’s advisor to oversee such matters. The appointment failed to fulfill the requirements laid by the university’s rules and Barkati had even been given an extension which was in conflict with the university code and was a violation of Supreme Court orders, he said.
Rehman pleaded to the court to direct the KU vice chancellor, through its Registrar, to abide by the apex court’s orders and remove all the rehired and/or post-retirement contractual employees from the university. He also requested to bar the advisor from performing and/or interfering in the official matters of the varsity.
After the preliminary hearing, the bench headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, issued notice to the KU vice chancellor and others for a date to be fixed later by the office.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2013.