SHC issues notices on plea against BIEK chairman’s transfer

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the secretary of the universities and boards and others on a petition against transfer of the chairman of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK).

Petitioner Naseem Ahmed Memon submitted that the secretary of the universities and boards with the approval of the competent authority had transferred him as chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Larkana in November 23 though he was posted as BIEK chairman on July 19, 2023.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the respondent did not mention any reason for the transfer of the petitioner although he was appointed as chairman for a period of two years non-extendable or till the appointment of a regular chairman whichever is earlier.

He submitted that the post of the chairman is a tenure post and non-extendable. He said that appointment of the petitioner could not be transferred by the caretaker government as such a post was nothing to do with the conduct of the fair and free elections.

The provincial law officer waived a notice in the matter and requested time to file comments in the petition. He submitted that as per his information a complaint was filed against the petitioner in 2017 before the provincial ombudsman for protection against harassment of woman at workplace when he was principal at Public School Hyderabad, which has been recently decided on November 24. The law officer submitted that there were certain other charges against the petitioner which will be placed on record while filing the comments.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the order of the ombudsman has been challenged before the Sindh governor. A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the secretary of the universities and boards department and directed the respondents to file comments on the petition.

The court directed the petitioner to place on record the proceedings before the provincial ombudsman for protection against harassment of women at workplace.

Encroachment

The SHC dismissed an application against an operation of the anti-encroachment cell and directed the deputy commissioner of District East to remove encroachments from a private housing society in Scheme 33, Gulzar-e-Hijri area.

Residents of a Goth had filed application against the anti-encroachment operation by the civic authorities and submitted that they were allotted the land under the gothabad scheme. The court observed that the Sindh government had cancelled the allotment of land under the gothabad scheme in 2009 as being fake and bogus. The court dismissed the application and directed the deputy commissioner to comply with the directions of the court with regard to the removal of encroachments from the housing society land and restore the possession of the land to the society.