LHC division bench suspends single bench's verdict

A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday suspended a single bench's verdict that struck down the appointments of acting vice chancellors at four public sector universities. The bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah also appointed, from a list furnished by the government, nominees to hold the posts of provisional vice chancellors as interim measure at the four universities.
The bench selected Dr Zafar Moeen Nasar for Punjab University, Dr Uzma Qureshi for Lahore College for Women University, Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad for University of Sargodha and Dr Muhammad Zubair for Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering & Technology, Multan. Regarding other seven universities in the province, the bench observed that the VCs already appointed through notifications issued on August 27, 2015, shall provisionally act as vice chancellors till final disposal of the appeal.
Earlier, a law officer argued that the subject of "education" had been devolved to the provinces under the 18th constitutional amendment. Therefore, he said, the matter pertaining to the appointment of vice chancellors in the public sector universities in the Punjab fell within the provincial domain.
He further submitted that amendments had been brought in the laws relating to various public sector universities through "The Public Sector Universities (Amendment) Act, 2012", wherein an elaborate process of appointment of VCs had been provided. He further argued that the appointment of VCs did not fall within the domain of the Higher Education Commission (HEC-federal) under "Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002" and was also not covered under Item 12 of Part-II of the Federal Legislative List of the Constitution. The government's asked the court to set aside the judgement passed by the single bench. A single bench comprising Justice Shahid Karim had declared illegal the appointments of the acting VCs and had also struck down the process initiated by the provincial government for appointment of new VCs.