LAHORE, MAY 29 (DNA) – The Lahore High Court (LHC) issued a detailed judgement of a petition filed against the appointment of DrIshtiaq Ahmad as the Vice Chancellor, University of Sargodha (UOS) declaring the case without merit.

In detailed judgment issued by the LHC, Justice Shahid Kareem refused to agree with the arguments of the petitioner’s counsel and declared the entire process of appointing DrIshtiaq Ahmad as the vice chancellor, UOS free from any taint, malice or procedural impropriety.

The court had reserved its judgment on the petition challenging appointment of DrIshtiaq, a renowned academician, as vice chancellor UOS.  The petition had been filed by HasnainRazaBarvi.

The court rejected the arguments of the petitioner, Barviwho claimed that DrIshtiaq Ahmed did not meet the eligibility criteria for appointment to the position of vice chancellor as neither he holds a 12-year teaching experience at a Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) recognised university nor he has 15 research publications in any of the HEC recognisedresearch journals. He also lacks required experience of administrative and financial management, Barvi argued.

The petitioner contended that DrIshtiaq became a tenure track faculty member in the year 2016 after the closing date for the submission of applications for appointment as vice chancellor while according to the clause 1.1(d) of the statues, a faculty member on tenure track cannot assume the responsibilities in an administrative capacity such as vice chancellor.

Barvi further argued in his petition that in respect of administrative experience, the committee which was set up for the specialized task of evaluating candidates for the position, practiced nepotism and malafidely gave a score of 19 marks to DrIshtiaq even when he had no experience as a vice chancellor. He had prayed the court to suspend the appointment of DrIshtiaq as his selection as vice chancellor UOS was “void and illegal”.

In the detailed verdict, Justice Kareem, after rejecting claim of the petitioner about clause 1.1(d) of the statues, remarked that the condition mentioned therein applies to the university which adopted the statutes and in which a faculty member is on tenure track.

Referring to the letters presented by DrIshtiaq’s counsel before the court, Justice Kareem nullified the petitioner’s argument about the nepotism and mala fide practice by the evaluation committee and stated in his ruling that letters from the vice chancellor of Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad and the University of Oxford, UK, and an office memorandum of Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the achievements and positions held by the defendant, show that the committee exercised its discretion in a proper and rational manner and upon cogent grounds.

Regarding the third objection, raised in the petition on the appointment of DrIshtiaq, that he does not have 15 research publications in any of the HEC recognised research journals, the verdict says that according to a HEC report submitted in the court with regard to the evaluation of publications of the

defendant, he holds a total of 18 HEC recognised publications which is clearly more than what has been required in the job notification.

The verdict clearly states that the Vice Chancellor UOS, DrIshtiaq Ahmad was qualified to be appointed as vice chancellor and considering him as the most suitable candidate, the committee exercised its discretion on proper considerations and the notification issued by HED regarding the appointment of DrIshtiaqis a valid piece of document and no exception can be taken to it.

Earlier, a single bench of LHC comprising Justice ShahidKarimon Dec 01, 2016,had directed the provincial government to consult with the HEC to start the process of appointment afresh  while it had already  endorsed the name of DrIshtiaq Ahmad as the vice chancellor UOS.

It would be pertinent to mention here that DrIshtiaq Ahmad was appointed on December 19, 2016 as provisional vice-chancellor of the University of Sargodha upon the government’s nomination by a division bench of LHC comprising Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Faisal Zaman Khan.=DNA

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