SHC sets aside findings of KU selection board for professor’s appointment

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has set aside findings of the selection board of the University of Karachi (KU) with regard to recommendations for the appointments of an associate professor and a professor in the chemistry department to the extent of contesting candidates before the court.

The high court remanded the matter to the competent authority of KU to determine afresh as to whether the contesting candidates were having requisite academic qualifications duly recognised under the law for the subject posts in KU at the time of the cut-off date provided in the public notice on December 26, 2014.

The order came on petitions of Dr Imran Ali Hashmi and others who sought issuance of writ of quo-warranto against the private respondents by calling in question their recommendation for the posts of an associate professor in BPS-20 and a professor in BPS-21 in the department of chemistry on the grounds that they were not qualified and were not entitled to be appointed and subsequently hold a public office.

The petitioners submitted that the private respondents did not meet the criteria to hold the public office either as an associate professor in BPS-20 or a professor in BPS-21 in KU, having no qualification and experience as required under the advertisement on December 26, 2014 and subsequent addendum on January 30, 2015. They submitted that the private respondents did not have teaching/research experience to hold the aforesaid posts and requested the high court to set aside the selection board’s recommendation on June 28, 2018, and subsequent steps as unlawful. A counsel for the respondents contended that the instant petitions were not maintainable under the law as the issues raised by the counsel for the petitioners involved factual controversy, which required evidence and the constitutional jurisdiction of court could not be invoked in the matter.

The SHC, after hearing arguments of the counsels, observed that the period consumed in deliberation by the selection board with effect from December 28, 2014 till June 28, 2018 had seriously prejudiced the case of the petitioners, which needed to be looked into afresh after proper scrutiny under the law.

The high court set aside the findings of the selection board to the extent of contesting candidates and remanded the matter to the competent authority of KU to determine afresh as to whether the candidates i.e. the petitioners and private respondents were having the requisite academic qualifications duly recognised under the law for the subject posts at the time of the cut-off date provided in the public notice

The SHC directed the competent authority to immediately send the copies of the said original academic certificates/degrees/publications of the petitioners and the private respondents to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan for verification. The high court directed the HEC to look into the academic qualification certificates and publications of the petitioners and the private respondents, and after ascertaining genuineness or otherwise submit a report to the syndicate of the KU in a sealed envelope within one month.