Corruption charges: President sends Urdu varsity VC on forced leave
Dr Zafar Iqbal says will challenge Senate meeting and its decision in court.
ISLAMABAD:
In a new twist in the log-running fiasco at the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, President Mamnoon Hussain, the chancellor, has sent the Vice-Chancellor Dr Zafar Iqbal on three-month forced leave.
University’s Senate (the governing body) met at the Presidency on Saturday to discuss the corruption charges against the VC, registrar, and other officials.
The VC, on the other hand, has termed the decision illegal and announced to move court. Iqbal said only he was authorised to call the Senate meeting.
The university, especially its Islamabad campus, has been the centre of controversies and politicking for the last several months. Saturday’s meeting also discussed construction of campuses in two cities without approval of Senate and the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
A Rs150 million scam had surfaced at Islamabad campus in July 2014 but the top management has spent much of the time since passing the buck.
The said amount was allegedly transferred from a university account to a private account and then ‘invested’ in some private businesses, all of which purportedly happened without coming to the attention of the top management. Five university employees involved in opening the bank account were suspended following an inquiry. The said staffers have been holding sit-in everyday since then for having been ‘illegally’ suspended.
According to a member of the Senate, the members discussed the charges and attempts of the VC to establish new campuses in Lahore and Faisalabad without following the due procedure.
An official who attended the Saturday’s meeting said that the president expressed his unhappiness over the happenings at the university.
Earlier this year, the president had also announced a probe body, headed by the HEC, to look into the corruption charges against the VC, who went to court and got a stay order against the body.
Iqbal told The Express Tribune that the meeting was “altogether illegal” because only he had the powers to call the senate meeting. “Meeting’s notification was faxed to my office a day before from the Presidency,” he said, claiming that this was illegal and the decisions by this body were null and void.
The senate approved sending the VC, director finance, and registrar on three months forced leave. The meeting decided that the orders would be implemented after December 24 as the case was sub judice in the Sindh High Court.
According to sources, three of the Senate body members will assist Dr Qaiser (the acting VC) to probe the charges against VC and other officials.
The VC said that he would file a contempt of court petition against the meeting and its decisions.
One of the major problems for the university is shortage of space in the existing building at Zero Point. The university purchased land in Chak Shahzad in 2006 but no progress has been made on the project since then. The university pays Rs2.3 million every year in rent for the existing building at Zero Point, which is property of the Evacuee Trust.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2014.
In a new twist in the log-running fiasco at the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, President Mamnoon Hussain, the chancellor, has sent the Vice-Chancellor Dr Zafar Iqbal on three-month forced leave.
University’s Senate (the governing body) met at the Presidency on Saturday to discuss the corruption charges against the VC, registrar, and other officials.
The VC, on the other hand, has termed the decision illegal and announced to move court. Iqbal said only he was authorised to call the Senate meeting.
The university, especially its Islamabad campus, has been the centre of controversies and politicking for the last several months. Saturday’s meeting also discussed construction of campuses in two cities without approval of Senate and the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
A Rs150 million scam had surfaced at Islamabad campus in July 2014 but the top management has spent much of the time since passing the buck.
The said amount was allegedly transferred from a university account to a private account and then ‘invested’ in some private businesses, all of which purportedly happened without coming to the attention of the top management. Five university employees involved in opening the bank account were suspended following an inquiry. The said staffers have been holding sit-in everyday since then for having been ‘illegally’ suspended.
According to a member of the Senate, the members discussed the charges and attempts of the VC to establish new campuses in Lahore and Faisalabad without following the due procedure.
An official who attended the Saturday’s meeting said that the president expressed his unhappiness over the happenings at the university.
Earlier this year, the president had also announced a probe body, headed by the HEC, to look into the corruption charges against the VC, who went to court and got a stay order against the body.
Iqbal told The Express Tribune that the meeting was “altogether illegal” because only he had the powers to call the senate meeting. “Meeting’s notification was faxed to my office a day before from the Presidency,” he said, claiming that this was illegal and the decisions by this body were null and void.
The senate approved sending the VC, director finance, and registrar on three months forced leave. The meeting decided that the orders would be implemented after December 24 as the case was sub judice in the Sindh High Court.
According to sources, three of the Senate body members will assist Dr Qaiser (the acting VC) to probe the charges against VC and other officials.
The VC said that he would file a contempt of court petition against the meeting and its decisions.
One of the major problems for the university is shortage of space in the existing building at Zero Point. The university purchased land in Chak Shahzad in 2006 but no progress has been made on the project since then. The university pays Rs2.3 million every year in rent for the existing building at Zero Point, which is property of the Evacuee Trust.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2014.