Minister asked to supervise BZU students’ admission

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court full bench on Monday appointed Minister Zaeem Qadri as incharge of committee to supervise the arrangements to ensure admissions of physiotherapy students of BZU Lahore in other institutions.

The bench headed by Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi issued this order while holding proceedings on several identical petitions of students against the varsity.

Through their counsels, the students submitted that the university opened its campus in Lahore illegally which was closed later. They said they had been given their dues but they were not being allowed to enter the campus premises. They said even after completion of their courses, some students were not being given degrees.

Justice Naqvi remarked that parents bore educational expenses of their children hardly and now the court would not let anyone commit fraud in the name of education. The court asked Zaeem Qadri to supervise the arrangements to ensure admissions of physiotherapy students of BZU Lahore in other institutions. The court also ordered the director of the campus to return fee amount to the students for not completing their session.

The court adjourned the hearing till 27th of March. On 7th of February, 2017, the bench passed an interim order in which the university was directed to issue degrees to students who passed their examinations at Lahore sub-campus. The petitioner-students through their counsels told the bench that despite court orders they had not been issued degrees and also NOCs.

The bench took notice of non-compliance of its previous order and observed that “Kot Lakhpat jail was not far from here,” and addressed the officials of the varsity. Almost 4,000 students had filed their petitions and had challenged non-recognition of their degrees as well as non-issuance of their degrees. They said they paid huge fee to the varsity and attended classes but despite all this, they had been deprived of degrees. They prayed that their degrees be issued and these also be recognised by the authorities concerned. The students had also staged several protests against the administration of the sub-campus of the varsity.