IHC reinstates Dr Tariq Banuri as HEC chairman

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered the immediate reinstatement of Dr Tariq Javed Banuri as the chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

In a verdict issued on Tuesday, Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamer Farooq declared the government's earlier notification of Dr Banuri's removal as HEC chairman null and void and ordered him to resume charge on the position.

“For reasons to be recorded later the petition in hand is allowed. Consequently, the impugned notifications, dated 26.03.2021 and 05.04.2021, are declared to have been issued without lawful authority and contrary to amended provisions of the Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002,” the court order read.

A detailed order, in this case, will be issued later, the court added.

Dr Banuri was appointed as HEC chairman in 2018 for a four-year term when PML-N's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was the prime minister.

However, the incumbent government had removed him in March 2021 through presidential ordinance and alteration in HEC rules and regulations, which reduced the HEC chairman’s tenure from four to two years.

HEC chairman Tariq Banuri removed

He was accused of hiring dozens of consultants and directors on hefty salaries, without fulfilling the required criteria.

The Cabinet Secretariat had issued a notification on March 26, 2021, confirming his termination.

“In terms of sub-section (5), read with sub-section (5A), of Section 6 of Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002 as amended vide Higher Education Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, Dr Tariq Bannri has ceased to be the Chairperson. Higher Education Commission forthwith and is accordingly removed from the said post, with immediate effect,” the notification read.

Unhappy with the decision, Dr Banuri challenged the government’s move in the Islamabad High Court.

In his petition, he contended that the government’s move was unlawful and against the provisions of the Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002.

Taking up his petition, the ICH Chief Justice had barred the government in June 2021 from appointing a permanent HEC chair until the verdict on Banuri’s case was out.