Bahauddin Zakariya University: Five deans removed for irregular appointment

HEC bans four deans at BZU, because they were appointed without the advice of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

MULTAN: The Punjab Higher Education Department (HEC) has banned four deans of different academic departments at Bahauddin Zakariyah University (BZU), because they were appointed without the advice of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

These professors include the dean of the Veterinary Sciences, Zafar Iqbal (hired on January 29, 2010), the dean of Arts and Social Sciences, Professor Shah Nawaz Malik (hired on January 29, 2010), the dean of Pharmacy, Professor Bashir Chaudary (hired on April 19, 2008), the dean of Islamic Studies and Languages, Professor Rubina Tareen (hired on January 29, 2010) and the Dean of Science and Agriculture, Professor Shahida Niazi (hired on June 23, 2008).

Professir Niazi retired a month ago.

A senior official at the BZU said that the action was taken after the media leaked a story detailing the procedural inconsistencies in the appointment of the mentioned faculty. “The vice chancellor skipped protocol and only sent a notification of the appointment of these faculty members to the Higher Education Department and to the Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer,” he said, adding “According to regulations the VC is duty bound to have the appointments approved by the chief minister as well.”

University staff said that the vice chancellor of the university, Dr Muhammad Zafarullah, has received several faxes mentioning the fact that these appointments were void but he refused to take any action. “The VC has only acted now, since he knows the Punjab Government has gotten involved. We heard of the sackings on December 22,” a university admissions office staff member said.

The BZU vice chancellor recently issued a notification for constituting a new panel to appoint deans for the mentioned departments. According to a university official, with reference to letter number SO (univ)6-3/2010 from the Higher Education Department (HED) Punjab to the BZU vice chancellor Zafarullah, “No action can be taken after informing the chancellor of the universities as Article 105 of the Constitution of Pakistan states that all vice chancellors are bound to seek advice from the chief minister in matters relating to the appointment of senior academic staff.” Punjab Education Department officials have accused the BZU vice chancellor of deliberately side-stepping protocol with regards to the appointment of the deans of five academic departments at the university. Earlier this year, the Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench announced its decision regarding university appointments. On October 12, 2010, the court upheld the decision that seeking the advice from the Punjab chief minister was a compulsory requirement for any major appointment by the vice chancellor of any university. The Higher Education Department has also advised that the names of three people be given for the panel that will select the dean for the university departments.

On Saturday, BZU Vice Chancellor Muhammad Zafarullah submitted a list of three panellists to select the deans for approval to the Punjab Education secretary.

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