Daily Times

LAHORE: Justice Shahid Waheed of Lahore High Court on Monday issued notices to the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Punjab Higher Education Department (PHED) and the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) on petitions of Imperial College of Business of Studies (ICBS) students seeking issuance of degrees.

Judge ordered the respondents to submit replies till January 10, 2018.

Dil Huma and other students approached the court against non-issuance of degrees to students of a private college. Petitioners counsel said that the students had completed their four-year engineering courses from ICBS in 2016 but still degrees had not being issued to them.

He said that the federal HEC and PEC in year 2012 permitted the college to induct students but later in 2017 it was banned. He submitted that in 2012 the college made representation in public advertisements in several national newspapers which attracted students to get admissions.

He said the students paid heavy fee to the college and spent four crucial years to complete their courses. He pleaded that if there were any holdups between HEC/PEC and the college, the students should not suffer for it.

He submitted that a ban of 2017 could be retrospectively made applicable to students who completed engineering degrees in 2016. He asked the court to order the college administration to issue degrees to the petitioners and the HEC to recognise the same. He asserted that not only the students’ educational career was stigmatized but also due to non-issuance of degrees, they could not start their careers.

He pointed out that the PEC failed to constitute the accreditation committee and upon inquiry by the students. He said under the law it was the statutory responsibility of PEC to constitute accreditation committee which could not be brushed off merely by saying that the committee was not functional.

He said that the HEC and ICBS had put the future of more than 600 students on the stake who were waiting for their degrees. He requested the court to issue directives for issuance of degrees to the petitioners.

Published in Daily Times, December 7^th 2017.