SHC seeks comments on plea against posting of Dr Asim’s wife as SHEC executive director

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday ordered status quo with regard to the appointment of Sindh Higher Education Commission (SHEC) Chairman Dr Asim Hussain’s wife as executive director of the commission.

The interim order came at a hearing of a petition of Abdul Ahad Ahmer Khan, who has challenged the appointment of Dr Asim Hussain’s wife Dr Samreen Hussain as executive director of the commission.

The petitioner’s counsel, Musharraf Azhar and Mohammad Arsalan, told the court that Dr Samreen had also served as member of the selection board of the SHEC, and she had initially conducted interviews for the position of executive director and rejected all candidates.

The counsel said the respondent herself applied for the post when an advertisement was published for the second time for the post. They submitted that as per the advertisement, candidates were required to have a work experience of 20 years in a senior academic and research position in any government, semi-government or autonomous bodies or a reputable organisation in the higher education sector.

They said the record of the respondent showed that she was appointed a professor in March 2015 for the first time and she did not possess the prescribed/requisite experience of 20 years as senior academic in terms of the requirements mentioned in the advertisement for the position of executive director.

The counsel further said that despite the inadequate experience of the respondent the selection board in gross violation of rules and regulations, including Section 12 of the SHEC Act, unlawfully selected the respondent for the post.

They said it was also a matter of record that the respondent was refused by the technical committee of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for the post of executive director on the basis of her inadequate experience. They said the SHEC chairman undoubtedly indulged “in “nepotism by pre-selecting the chosen one by passing the merit.

The court was requested to issue a writ of quo warranto with regard to Dr Samreen’s appointment despite her inadequate experience and set aside the impugned notification.

A division bench, comprising Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar and Justice Adnanul Karim Memon, issued notices to the secretary of the Sindh Universities and Boards Department, the SHEC and Dr Samreen, and called their comments on March 30. The court in meantime ordered the parties to maintain status quo.