PHC bars UoH admin from making fresh appointments

HARIPUR: Stopping the University of Haripur (UoH) administration from making fresh appointments and promotions, a two-member bench of Abbottabad circuit bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has served notices on the respondents to appear before it on June 21.

Naila Nawaz, assistant director horticulture, Humaira Zaman, Deputy Registrar Establishment, Assistant Provost Tasneefullah, Assistant Director Student Financial Aid Abbas Ali and Deputy Controller Examination Asghar Ali of the University of Haripur had filed a petition under article 199 of the Constitution.

The petitioners had made the acting VC Dr Ayub Khan, Chancellor and registrar of the UoH, Chairman Higher Education Commission, as respondents in the case.

The petitioners, through their counsel, Advocate Syed Amjad Shah, contended that the incumbent head of the UoH was a pro-vice- chancellor working as acting VC rather than a regular vice-chancellor, who wants to recruit maximum numbers of employees in a short span, which is violation of the statutes of the university.

“The pro-vice-chancellor is not supposed to make massive scale recruitments rather he should work as a caretaker but three separate advertisements were issued and the element of malafide as well as nepotism had been depicting the way the pro-VC is intending recruitments in a public sector university, which will be adversely affecting the education of the students for a long time to come,” said the petition.

The petitioners also prayed that respondents No 5 and 7 (Rashid Mehmood and Ayub Khan) have been appointed on contract basis and now deputed on important administrative posts, who would also be applicants in the new recruitment process (advertised by the acting VC) and such acts of the respondents are violative of the conflict of interest policy of the UoH.

The two-member bench of PHC comprising Justice Waqar Ahmed and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel, while granting interim relief to the petitioners on May 18, ordered for maintaining the status quo in respect of new appointments as well as promotions in the university. All the respondents were served with notices to appear before the court on June 21, 2022.