ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) held its selection board meeting on Thursday which finalised the name of a candidate for the post of executive director (ED) but withheld the appointment since the matter is sub judice in the Lahore High Court, said a statement.

The post fell vacant in October 2018 after the resignation of the then ED Dr Arshad Ali.

“As a petition regarding the selection board is pending in the Lahore High Court (LHC), HEC will announce the appointment of its executive director after LHC’s decision,” read the statement.

The LHC while hearing a petition filed by Vice Chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University Dr Mohammad Ali challenging the appointment process of ED and re-composition of the selection board had allowed the selection board to continue with the appointment process but observed that the fate of the appointment would be subject to the final decision on the petition.

Commission withholds appointment since matter is sub judice in LHC

The petitioner had alleged that the HEC chairman changed the composition of the board to secure the appointment of his blue-eyed candidate.

The office of ED, which acts as principal accounting officer with over Rs100 billion budget outlay, has been running on an ad hoc basis.

The post was advertised twice in the last two years only to announce that no suitable candidate was found. In response to the third advertisement, the selection board met on Thursday to conduct an interview of 11 shortlisted candidates.

Sources said that out of 11 shortlisted educationists, five including Dr Jamil Ahmad, Dr Sohail Qureshi, Dr Ifthikhar Ahmed, Dr Mohammad Ali and Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed turned up on Thursday.

The federal education ministry has opposed the selection board by stating that reinstated Chairman Dr Tariq Javed Banuri had replaced two members of the selection board unlawfully, therefore, the ministry would not validate the selection board’s decisions.

The ministry also alleged that the HEC chairman had misused his authority.

Following the education ministry’s objection, the ministry of science and technology also opposed the selection board. The secretaries of ministries of education and science and technology were part of the seven-member selection board, but they did not turn up in the meeting. Another member, acting ED Dr Shaista Sohail, also did not attend the meeting.

HEC had stated that the ministry’s objections were unjustified, patently mala fide, and tantamount to interference in the internal matters of an autonomous institution.

“The HEC has completed the selection process for the position of Executive Director, and selected a candidate. However, it has sealed the decision until the legal process in the Lahore High Court (LHC) is completed. The HEC selection board conducted the final interviews for the position on Thursday,” read a statement issued by HEC after the selection board meeting.

It said the selection board had finalised the top-scoring contender for the post of executive director as it conducted interviews of the candidates against the post at the commission secretariat. It said five out of the 11 shortlisted candidates appeared before the board.

However, the VC QAU was also amongst those five candidates who were interviewed by the selection board.

When contacted, the VC QAU said though he had reservation on the selection board but he appeared for the interview to maintain his legal position as an affected party.

“I have already challenged the composition of this selection board as illegal and same is pending for adjudication before LHC. I also submitted my views to the HEC chairman in writing,” he said.

Meanwhile, in one liner reaction, the ministry of education stated: “The interview process of HEC is unlawful and will not be endorsed by the commission.”

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2022