LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday suspended call-up notices of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) issued to the vice chancellor and the registrar of the Government College University (GCU) in an inquiry of alleged financial embezzlement.

The bench also sought a detailed reply from the ACE by September 13.

Earlier, the petitioners’ counsel argued that the GCU was an autonomous institution and the governor being chancellor had the sole jurisdiction to initiate any inquiry against its officials.

He said the law and the university rules did not allow the ACE to summon the petitioners. He also pointed out that the ACE could not summon an officer of BS-20 and above without approval of the chief minister.

The counsel, therefore, asked the court to set aside the impugn call-up notices for being unlawful and issued without a lawful jurisdiction.

The ACE had summoned GCU VC Dr Asghar Zaidi and Registrar Dr Shaukat Ali along with the record of the university’s funds for the year 2021 and 2022.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023