UoP registrar files contempt petition against pro-VC

PESHAWAR: The Registrar of the University of Peshawar (UoP) on Monday filed contempt of court petition against the acting pro-vice chancellor for not allowing him to take charge of his seat even when the court restored him on the position.

Dr Syed Fazl-e-Hadi filed the contempt of court petition against Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Abid through his lawyers Mohibullah Kakakhel and Saifullah Mohib.It was submitted in the petition that on May 23 the high court suspended a notification through which the petitioner had been transferred from the post of Registrar to the Office of Research Innovation and Commercialisation.

The petitioner claimed that the acting vice-chancellor on May 24 refused to accept the court’s order about his restoration as Registrar.He said that on May 25 the Vice Chancellor ordered his private secretary to lock the office of the Registrar after he received the court order so that the petitioner may not work inside the office.

The petitioner also provided photographs of the double locked office.It was also submitted that the issue of locking the office was raised with the contemnor by the Finance and Training Committee of the university that submitted a note-sheet to the Vice Chancellor for opening the locks of the Registrar office, but he refused the request and thus openly violated the court orders.

“The petitioner started performing his routine work, but the Vice Chancellor on May 26 directed him to go on forced leave,” the petition said, adding that the same day an illegal charge-sheet was also issued to the petitioner.

It said the Vice Chancellor then constituted what he called an illegal inquiry committee against him. “The charge of the office of Registrar was handed over to Dr Zahid Gul illegally as additional charge as he was already performing duty as director planning and development,” he added.

As per the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Act 2012 (Amendment 2016), the petition noted that the pro-vice chancellor does not have any administrative control over the university officers mentioned in section (8) of the act and only the Syndicate of the university is empowered to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the university employees in BPS-17 and above.

“Under the law, the vice chancellor doesn’t have any authority to send Registrar on forced leave, issue charge-sheet and initiate disciplinary proceedings,” it said.

The petition said that because of the unscrupulous and headless approach of the contemnor, the university affairs have almost come to a halt as he is in the habit of doing illegal acts. It claimed that even legal acts are being done illegally by the acting vice-chancellor. It said the petitioner was doing his duty outside the locked office of Registrar in miserable condition, adding, the pro-vice chancellor is not competent to even look into any agenda item of the Syndicate what to talk of taking action on it.