PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has suspended a notification of the higher education department to appoint University of Swabi’s vice-chancellor Prof Imtiaz Ali Khan as the acting vice-chancellor of the Women University Swabi in addition to his current job.

A bench consisting of Justice Mussarat Hilali and Justice Waqar Ahmad issued the stay order on a petition filed by resident Jawad Ahmad Mir, who has challenged the appointment of UoS VC Prof Dr Imtiaz Ali Khan as the acting WUS VC in July on the orders of the provincial governor, who is the university’s chancellor.

The petitioner requested the court to declare void the impugned notification issued on July 31, 2019, authorizing Prof Imtiaz Ali to look after the affairs of the office of the vice-chancellor, WUS.

The court has already issued notices to the respondents for filing comments on the petition.

The respondents include the provincial government through chief secretary, higher education secretary, the WUS chancellor through the governor’s principal secretary, the WUS registrar, and UoS VC Prof Imtiaz Ali.

Ali Azim Afridi, lawyer for the petitioner, said the impugned notification was issued by the higher education secretary on the completion of the three-year tenure of the outgoing WUS VC, Prof Khanzadi Fatima.

He said the KP Universities Act, 2012, provided that the pro-vice chancellor of a public sector university should perform as the acting VC in case of the tenure of the regular VC expired.

The lawyer said the law also allowed the term extension to the outgoing VC.

He said the KP governor had formally asked the outgoing VCs of some universities to act as the interim VCs but in the instant case, that didn’t happen, which was an act of discrimination by the governor against the outgoing VC.

He quoted several judgments of superior courts in support of his contention stating that in one of the verdict the apex court had ruled that good governance was not a favour to be bestowed on the people, it was their right.

BAIL REJECTED: A child protection court here has rejected the bail petition of a man arrested on the charge of sexually abusing a minor boy in the jurisdiction of Pahari Pura police station lately.

Judge Wadeya Mushtaq ruled that the petitioner, Faizan, was not entitled to the concession of bail.

The state prosecutor said the petitioner was charged in an FIR registered under the Pakistan Penal Code’s Section 364 (abduction) and Section 377 (unnatural offence) and that both offences were non-bailable.

He said the evidence on record connected the petitioner with sexual assault.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2019