Facilitating students: Court waives domicile requirement for college admissions

Orders to apply across the province for the 2013 academic year.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday waived the requirement of presenting domicile certificates for college admissions throughout the province for the 2013 academic year.

While hearing a petition filed by Advocate Essa Khan challenging the newly devised policy for obtaining a domicile certificate, a PHC division bench comprising Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk and Justice Yahya Afridi directed the provincial government to also submit a reply over promulgating the new policy.



The court had earlier ordered educational institutions to accept admission applications with B forms (birth certificates) and observed the domicile certificate could be demanded at the time of admission.

However, on July 5, the Higher Education Department (HED) issued a statement directing educational institutions to stop the admission process claiming the PHC had reportedly stayed the procedure. On July 9, the court clarified no such orders had been issued.

On Wednesday, HED officials denied any such policy was devised when they were asked by the bench to produce the policy in question.

During the case hearing on Thursday, HED Section Officer Afsar Bukhari repeated there was no such policy. He, however, added a joint admission committee formed by all colleges under the 1935 Education Code demanded the certificates.

The court then recorded Bukhari’s statement and directed colleges to waive the need to include a domicile certificate in college admission documents for the year 2013.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2013.