Appointment of vice chancellor: governors bound to act on chief minister's advice: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday said that all provincial governors are bound to act on the advice of chief ministers in appointment of vice chancellors of government universities. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani announced the verdict and declared the appointment of new vice chancellor of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, as unconstitutional.
The appointment was made by Punjab Governor Latif Khan Khosa, who, along with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, had faced criticism for the delay in making a permanent appointment. The SC on September 23 had reserved its verdict on a petition, challenging appointment of Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) vice chancellor.
The court directed the authorities to issue the notification of appointment of Professor Khawaja Alqama as vice chancellor of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, as per summary of Punjab chief minister. The Punjab governor had arbitrarily appointed Dr Muhammad Zafrullah as VC of BZU, but Shahbaz had rejected the appointment and had sent a summary for appointment of Professor Khawaja Alqama. The court in its verdict directed that the VC should be appointed according to the summary of the Punjab chief minister.
During the hearing, Punjab advocate-general argued that after the passage of 18th Amendment, the governor was bound to consult the chief minister on any such appointment. The court also said that if the governor was not satisfied with the summary or had any reservations regarding the appointment, then he should have returned the summary within 15 days.