Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Shahid Kareem declare as illegal the appointment of acting vice chancellor Punjab University Dr Mujahid Kamran and other three public sector universities including Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University, University of Sargodha and Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology Multan.

The Justice sets aside the process of appointment of the vice chancellors at University of the Punjab (PU), Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), University of Sargodha, and Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology ab initio.

He announced the judgment in the case Dr Aurangzeb Alamgir vs. Government of the Punjab, etc. Prof. Dr Aurangzeb Alamgir, Samee Uzair, Dr Shahbaz Cheema, and Prof Wasif Khan were the petitioners in the case. An eminent lawyer, Saad Rasool, pleaded the case for the petitioners.

The court also ordered the federal Higher Education Commission (HEC) to devise the criteria for the appointment of VCs within 30 days. The court further ordered that the Punjab HED notify separate Search Committees for each of the four universities and carry out the appointment process afresh.

Finally, the court ordered the Punjab government to remove Mujahid Kamran of Punjab University and the look-after VCs at the other three universities within seven days of the order, and appoint the senior most professors as the acting vice chancellors instead.

The decision was given after almost one year since the filing of the case. The court gave patient hearing to all parties involved in the case, particularly to the lawyers of the HEC, HED, and PU who used various delaying tactics throughout. The detailed judgment is expected within a few days.

In a post-judgment interview, Saad Rasool said that Mujahid Kamran had been running the Punjab University as a one-man show for the last nine years. He further said that because of the judgment, a new regular vice chancellor will be appointed in accordance with law at each of the four universities.

The PU teachers, students, and staff greatly appreciated the fair, comprehensive, and timely judgment of the court. They celebrated the removal of Mujahid Kamran by distributing sweets with the hope that, unlike Kamran, the new vice chancellor appointed through a just process would run the university in an orderly and lawful manner.

Judge held that there was no provision of law for appointment of the acting vice chancellors and the provincial government had no authority to appoint the acting vice chancellors as it was exclusive right of the HEC to appoint a vice chancellor.

The LHC ordered this verdict on Thursday while accepting a petition moved by Dr Asmatullah of Zoology department at Punjab University and others had challenged the process of the acting vice chancellors appointments. He prayed to direct government to appoint the VCs in accordance with the law and observe merit.