PHC upholds dismissal of 400 AWKU employees

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday dismissed writ petitions of over 400 sacked employees of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan.

A division bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan dismissed the writ petitions filed against the order of the university after detailed arguments in the cases. During the hearing, counsels for the petitioners submitted that the employees were appointed to the sanctioned posts after proper test and interview. They said over 441 employees were recruited in the university through advertisement number 48.

Out of the terminated employees, 271 were regular and 171 were contractual. The lawyers further submitted that the employees were terminated from their service without show cause notice and fulfilling legal requirements under the law.

On the other hand, Assistant Attorney General, Tariq Mansoor, who represented the university, submitted before the bench that all the appointments were made through illegal ways and on political basis.

In some of the cases, he said, employees continued with the job even after the expiry of contracts. In some cases, even those persons were regularly appointed who were even not shortlisted in the merit lists. However, he pointed out before the court that under the law, the university could terminate the contractual employees without giving a show-cause notice. However, he said the university had given a one-month prior show-cause notice before termination.

In the cases of regular employees, he said, those were terminated from service who were appointed through illegal and political basis in the university and without sanctioned posts. He said that all these employees were surplus and appointed without sanctioned posts. To the court query, he replied that action against the officials of the university including the former vice-chancellor, registrar and officials have also been initiated for political and illegal appointments.

He said that show-cause notices has also been issued to the officials and one grade-20 officer Arshur Rahman has been suspended for his misconduct and interference in the record of the university.