PHC puts governor, others on notice in dean appointment case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has put on notice the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, vice-chancellor and registrar of University of Peshawar (UoP) in a writ petition filed against the appointment of dean faculty of Social Sciences.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Afsar Shah issued notice to chancellor of the university, vice-chancellor and registrar of the university in a writ petition filed by Dr A Z Hilali, chairman department of Political Science of the university.

During the hearing, Ijaz Khan Sabi submitted that his client was deliberately ignored by the authorities concerned who violated the section 12-B of the KP University Act 2012 Schedule -III which required qualified professors as per the act.

The lawyer pointed out that the petitioner was the only qualified and eligible candidate in term of the requirement of schedule-III of the KP University Act 2012 whereas other candidates didn't have the required qualification including having published at least 15 publications in the research journals recognised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

The lawyer further added that the petitioner was hopeful that the Higher Education Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would do justice, but it had personal vendetta against the petitioner.

After enactment of the act, the appointment of dean Faculty of Social Sciences must be based on merit and educational standard rather than seniority which is no more in existence after the University Act 2012 read with Schedule-III and the present dean Dr Taj Muharram had not required number of publications and research experience to his credit, therefore, he was not eligible to be appointed dean of Faculty of Social Sciences of UoP.