Court removes, demotes PU Law College principal

LAHORE
THE Lahore High Court has set aside the appointment orders of Dr Shazia Qureshi, Principal Punjab University Law College (PULC) as Professor and Dean Law College and she has been reverted back to the post of Associate Professor, as she holds the post before her selection in said capacity.
It is pertinent to mention here that Dr Shazia Qureshi is wife of Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the Lahore High Court was hearing a petition of Javed Sami and Shumaila Gul against Dr Shazia Qureshi’s appointment.
The petitioners took up the plea that appointment of Dr Shazia as Professor of Law and Dean of Faculty of Law was violation of the provisions of the Constitution of Pakistan and University of the Punjab Act, 1973.
They said her selection was result of mala fide intention and nepotistic exercise of statutory authority by the Vice-Chancellor. They submitted that the selection of Dr Shazia to the said post was made in violation of the guidelines of Higher Education Commission which had been adopted by the University vide its Notification No. 1724/Acad, dated June 06, 2007.
Through the petition, the applicants sought directions of court to require the university to hold elections to the Senate of the University in accordance with the provision of the University Act and Election Statutes prior to the Senate meeting called by the University vide Notice dated February 13, 2015.
On the other end, according to handout issued by Punjab University, Dr Shazia Qureshi’s lawyer Khurram Saeed and PU Legal Adviser Malik Awais Khalid argued before the court that Dr Shazia Qureshi was appointed as professor under the same criteria which was being adopted by the administration since 2000 for appointment and promotion of faculty members at Punjab University. They said that even the petitioners, including Samee Uzair, Javed Sami and Shumaila Gul were also appointed following the same rules and regulations. They submitted the record of 800 faculty members appointed in PU following the same rules and regulations and said that hence the decision would affect all the appointments.
The court heard the arguments of councils of the parties and law officers appearing on behalf of the university and took very serious notice of the fact that Senate of the Punjab University had not been constituted since 2008.
The court directed the PU Vice-Chancellor to make the Senate functional within five months. As regards the appointment of Dr Shazia Qureshi as Professor of Law and Dean Punjab University Law College, the court declared the same illegal and set aside her appointment orders to the said posts.