Up in the air: Future of Fuuast’s ‘illegal’ law programmes placed in jeopardy

PBC has issued a show-cause notice to university for violation of accreditation rules.

KARACHI: The future of law students enrolled at the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) is at stake following the Pakistan Bar Council's (PBC) final show-cause notice to the institution for running 'illegal' law programmes at its campuses and granting affiliation to private law colleges.

The notice, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, was issued on January 1 to the Fuuast administration that is already embroiled in a number of controversies and corruption allegations against its vice-chancellor, Prof Dr Zafar Iqbal.



The council had asked the university to provide satisfactory explanation as to why its accreditation to run the law programmes at its main campus in Karachi should not be revoked over its persistent 'unbecoming conduct and violations' of the PBC's rules.

"Besides granting affiliation to private law colleges, the university has started doctorate as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s of Law programmes at its Lahore and Islamabad campuses in violation of the accreditation rules," said PBC secretary Muhammad Arshed.

The PBC's legal education committee had accredited Fuuast's main campus in Karachi on November 7, 2012, emphasising that only law graduates having obtained their degree on or after this date were entitled to apply for enrolment as an advocate with a bar council.

Meanwhile, Section 6-A(i) of the PBC (Recognition of Universities) Rules, 2005, stated that that applicant university or degree-awarding institution shall have to submit an undertaking to the effect that "it shall not affiliate with any private law college at any place, nor itself will conduct law classes anywhere else except on its main campus."

On account of these violations, the accreditation of the Fuuast Karachi campus already stands suspended since July 13, 2014, by way of a public notification that also advised students that the law degree issued by the 'delinquent university' shall not be considered valid for enrolment as an advocate with a bar council.

According to Arshed in his final show-cause notice, the university administration had, over the course of significant time and despite receiving several notices since 2013, not only miserably failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for its misconduct but had also kept on blatantly violating the rules by offering admissions at its campuses and granting affiliation to the Allama Iqbal Law College in Sialkot.



Regarding Fuuast's undertaking four years ago to restrict its legal education to its Karachi campus, university registrar Dr Faheemuddin told The Express Tribune that the varsity's Islamabad campus had been a constituent part of the institution since its inception.

"We believe that the PBC accreditation issued to the main campus automatically applies to the campus in Islamabad," he claimed in what appears to be a contradiction of the stated rules. "It is an unjust demand that the university should only run its law programmes at the Karachi campus."

Contradictory to the admissions notice issued by Fuuast's Lahore campus on November 26, 2014, Dr Faheemuddin also claimed that the university had never started a law programme at its Lahore campus.

Now, with the Fuuast registrar saying that a 'thorough' reply to the bar council's concerns has been submitted, the future of legal education at the university lies in the hands of the council's legal education committee.

"We are extremely upset, as revoking the accreditation would mean that we will be unable to practice the profession individually or with a legal firm," said Muhammad Maaz, a law student at the Fuuast Karachi campus. "Students should not bear the brunt of the university administration's irresponsible decisions."

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2015.