Appointment of VC challenged

PESHAWAR: Appointment of vice chancellor of the Bacha Khan University was challenged in the Peshawar High Court on Monday, seeking his removal from the post.

The appointment was challenged by Shafiur Rehman being a candidate for the post.

It was submitted in the petition that after appointment of Prof (r) Saqlain Naqvi as vice chancellor in 2017, the registrar of the university wrote a letter to registrar of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agricultural University, Rawalpindi, with a request to provide clearance certificate in respect of the newly appointed VC of Bacha Khan University, where he was serving as mandatory requirement for the said post.

However, it was claimed in the petition that the registrar of the Agricultural University, Rawalpindi on July 17, 2017 through a letter refused the clearance certificate to the VC on the pretext that he had been convicted by the competent authority in the offence of moral turpitude during service and was guilty of misconduct and thus he was not entitled to be issued clearance certificate.

The petitioner claimed that the respondent Saqlain Naqvi legally and morally was not entitled to be appointed as VC, but the respondents including the governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Higher Education Commission and Higher Education Department in disregard of law, transparency and fairness made the appointment of the respondent under political influence and motivation by ignoring the competent candidates against the spirit of educational policies as well as provincial autonomy of the province.

The court was requested to declare the appointment void.