Appointment of ‘influential’ candidates: LHC seeks reply from PU chancellor

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday sought a reply from the chancellor Punjab University (PU) on a petition of Professor Dr Shabir Sarwar within a week challenging the appointment of ‘influential’ candidates as professor of the School of Communication Studies (SCS) of the PU.

The court also directed a provincial law officer to submit the decision by the chancellor on a representation made by the petitioner Associate Professor.

Earlier, petitioner’s counsel told the court that the chancellor had not submitted his reply since 2022 when the petition was filed. He said a representation filed by the petitioner was still pending with the chancellor.

The petition challenged the appointment of Dr Sawera Shami, Dr Mian Hannan and Dr Lubna Zaheer.

The petitioner alleged favouritism, misuse of authority, violation of rules and regulations in the selection process.

He said the meeting to recommend the names of the panel of foreign experts/referees was never convened in violation of university rules and regulations.

He asked the court to set aside the impugned appointments for being made in an illegal manner.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024