LHC strikes down process of four VCs' appointment

The Lahore High Court on Thursday struck down the process of appointment of vice chancellors in four universities of the province with direction to make the appointments on merit. The court allowing several identical petitions against the appointment of acting vice chancellors in the four varsities directed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to appoint senior most professors as acting vice chancellors at each university and re-advertise the posts within one month.
The court observed that the law had no room for appointment of acting vice chancellor for an indefinite period. Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran is working as acting VC at Punjab University, Professor Dr Uzma Qureshi at Lahore College for Women University, Professor Dr Nazra Sultana at University of Sargodha and Professor Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid at Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology Multan.
Punjab University Zoology Department's Dr Auranzeb Alamghir, College of Information Technology's Principal Mansoor Sarwar and others had challenged the process of appointment and contended that the Higher Education Department (HED) Punjab had no jurisdiction to appoint the vice chancellors. The petitioner's counsel, Saad Rasool, pleaded that powers to appoint VCs solely rested with the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
He said the HED through a notification on April 7 last had prescribed the criteria for appointment of VCs in 11 universities. He said the HED is not competent to constitute search committees and that the prescribing criterion for the VCs is illegal. Saad said a non-PhD candidate is also eligible to apply for the post of the VC but such persons had been excluded outrightly from the process. He, therefore, asked to the court to declare the criteria and search committee formed by the HED as illegal and unconstitutional. He also prayed the court to direct the respondents to carry out the process for search, selection and appointment of the PU VC afresh.