Principal given notice for refusing admission

Principal refused admit a girl under the pretext that her birth certificate did not fit the criteria.

RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench on Thursday issued a notice to the principal of Government College for Women Rawalpindi in the case of a girl seeking admission in the college. A single member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Ahmed directed the principal to appear before the court today along with the record relating to the petitioner.

Naila Shahzadi, a resident of New Fasial Colony filed a petition through her legal counsel Muhammad Atif in which she maintained that she passed the intermediate exam from board of secondary education Rawalpindi in 2008-10 as a regular student of the college.

The petitioner told the court that after intermediate, she submitted her admission form to enroll in Bachelor of Arts and was on merit according to the college criteria.

Shahzadi accused the principal of refusing to give her admission under the pretext that she had not attached her birth certificate. Later, the petitioner attached her birth certificate, but the respondent again refused, saying that she did not satisfy the criteria and asked her to attach fresh birth certificate.

According to the petitioner, after she submitted a fresh birth certificate, the respondent again refused to give her admission and started using delaying tactics.

The legal counsel of the petitioner told the court that she was a regular student of the college and had qualified for graduation according to the merit list, but the principal continuously refused to allow her admission without “any solid reason.” Shahzadi said that her future was at stake because of the principal.

Moreover, admission in all women colleges in Rawalpindi had been closed.

The court issued a notice to the principal and directed her to appear before the court along with complete documents. The matter will be taken up on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2010.