Process to be started afresh on CM’s advice, SHC told

In his reply to the governor on the summary for appointment of a vice-chancellor for the Dow University of Health Sciences, the Sindh chief minister has advised that the appointment process be initiated afresh, the CM’s secretary for universities and boards told the Sindh High Court on Wednesday.

The court was hearing the lawsuit filed by Prof Dr Rana Qamar Masood against the appointment of pro-VC Dr Khawar Saeed Jamali as acting VC of DUHS instead of Dr Masood Hameed.

The plaintiff has submitted that impugned notifications have been issued in violation of the court’s order of April 26, 2016, that directed the search committee to complete the process of appointment of VC within 20 days. It was submitted that contrary to the court’s orders, the pro-VC had been appointed as acting VC on March 15, despite him being of the general cadre.

Explaining the progress made on the court’s directives, Secretary to CM for Universities and Boards Naveed Ahmed Sheikh submitted that Syed Murad Ali Shah had sent back the summary to Governor Mohammad Zubair with the advice that the process should be started from scratch.

The secretary said the governor has also been asked to remove Dr Khawar Saeed Jamali from the post of additional VC and appoint Prof Dr Mohammad Masroor – being the senior most professor and pro-VC of DUHS – in his stead until the process is completed.

After taking the report on record, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar adjourned the matter till April 28 and directed the secretary for universities and boards to submit a report on the appointment of a permanent VC for DUHS.  

School security 

The SHC directed the provincial law officer to submit a report detailing steps being taken for security of public and private educational institutions in the province.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research (Piler) in January 2015 – in the wake of the APS Peshawar tragedy – seeking directives to provincial authorities to boost security of educational institutes. 

At an earlier hearing, the court was informed that 81 schools across the province were most sensitive in respect of security. The report stated that a summary was forwarded to the chief minister requesting funds to raise security walls around the buildings of these schools. 

The report added that these funds were being sought outside the budgetary allocations made for the fiscal year 2016-17. Once these funds are provided, the report added, security measures at these institutions could be enhanced.

The court directed the provincial law officer to submit on May 4 a report detailing as steps taken to improve security at educational institutions.