UoP admin denotifies dean

PESHAWAR: The University of Peshawar (UoP) has de-notified Prof Yaseen Iqbal as dean of the faculty of Numerical and Physical Sciences and Prof Qamar Zaman has been named as the dean of the same faculty by the governor on the recommendation of the university and advice of the chief minister.

The de-notified dean told The News that no legal procedure was fulfilled while taking extreme action against him. He said that no explanation or show cause was served to him. Also, no charge sheet was given to him and no inquiry or personal hearing could be held before taking the action against him.

He said that he was not aware of any irregularity committed by him. According to rules, if an employee commits something against the statutes or law of the land, there are set procedures for proceedings against him, which were simply not followed in this case, he said.

“In this unique case even after denotification, I did not know about any illegality committed by me throughout my career. It was a total surprise for me. I had not been informed about any development against me for the simple reason that I had not violated any law or regulation throughout my career,” he believed.

The only issue Prof Iqbal could recall was that his name had been recommended for the position of Vice-Chancellor of the Islamia College University in December 2020 along with Prof Jahan Bakht and Prof. Gul Majid Khan.

He had submitted an appeal to the Chancellor University of Peshawar / KP governor to withhold the notification of the appointment of the VC and verify the academic credentials and experience of the two candidates.

Prof Yaseen Iqbal had appealed to the governor/chancellor as a candidate but he was an employee of the university and an employee cannot resign from a life-long job for submitting an appeal. He said he was not an ordinary applicant but was among the three recommended candidates for the VC post at Islamia College University, Peshawar. Even if an employee writes directly to the chancellor and is not a candidate, still he cannot be punished by removing him from the senior position. This action explicitly demonstrates malafide intentions of all those involved in this process, the academician added.

Prof Yaseen Iqbal appealed to the chancellor to take notice of the situation and provide him justice.