LAHORE: A committee tasked with holding a probe into excessive admissions in 41 private law colleges affiliated with the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) has proposed one-time dispensation for the LLB three-year programme students and action against the officials involved in the scam, Dawn has learnt.

Governor Chaudhry Sarwar had constituted a three-member committee, led by Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, to look into findings of an inquiry conducted earlier and identify the culprits who had allowed 41 affiliated colleges to flout the rules to enrol more than 10,000 students.

The committee met two days ago and called BZU registrar Sohaib Rashid who submitted the record of the LLB admissions in the three years programme.

One of the members of the committee told Dawn, on condition of anonymity, said the registrar office and registration branch officers were involved in corruption and the rules were manipulated to enroll thousands of the students in a three-year degree programme in back dates. He said the private colleges were asked by the registrar office to get enrolments after the court had banned the three years degree programme.

“The inquiry had proved that the non-affiliated colleges were also given seats by the registrar office.”

The official said the registrar office was also hiding behind the direction of a high court to give seats to the non-affiliated colleges. He said the committee had found that the students were given enrollment in back dates and the fee of hundreds of students was not paid by the private colleges; however, they appeared in the exam.

The committee had found malpractice on the part of the private colleges and the BZU registrar office.

“We are proposing action against the registrar office and allowing the students to complete degrees,” he said.

Earlier, Dr Omar Chaudhry-led committee constituted earlier to probe the matter had concluded that 29 approved private colleges had given admissions to 300 students against the BZU sanctioned strength of 100.

It said 10 colleges had no BZU permission at all to go for LLB part-I (three-year course) admissions and hence all their registered students were prima facie illegal.

It stated that the Pakistan Law College, Pakpattan, was never affiliated with the BZU and all the students registered by it were illegal. It further said the registration of students by some colleges was done without depositing the registration fee.

The inquiry said there was no mechanism for calculation, collection and verification of registration fee on the part of the BZU and private colleges.

“There is a serious lack of coordination between the registrar office and the treasurer office for verification of the university income.”

It also stated that the vouchers of examination fee and registration fee submitted by Muhammadan Law College, Multan, and the Pakistan Law College, Pakpattan, were fake and self-stamped and the same was admitted by their directors. It underlined the need for further probe to find how long the practice by the said colleges had been continuing and the previous years’ examination and registration fee record of the colleges in question should also be verified.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2022