ISLAMABAD: Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri on Wednesday was given his power back through a unanimous vote on Wednesday.

According to a statement issued by the commission, the powers of the HEC chairman, that had been delegated to the commission’s executive director in February through a resolution, were given back to him.

Mr Banuri had remained in trouble during the PTI regime as he was removed from the post in March 2021 through a presidential ordinance that reduced his four-year term to two years. He was restored by Islamabad High Court (IHC) as the commission’s chairman in January this year.

However, he faced another setback in February when members of the commission adopted a resolution moved by Education Secretary Naheed S. Durrani, with 14 members in its favour and seven against it, delegating the power of HEC chairman to its executive director.

Decision taken by 11 members of commission; Dr Tariq Banuri had been restored by IHC to his post after being removed through presidential ordinance

The decision to give the chairman his powers back overruled this earlier resolution, on which consent of the commission’s members was obtained without a formal meeting and through email, to delegate the chairperson’s powers to the HEC executive director, the statement added.

An official of the HEC said all those who attended the meeting on Wednesday decided that Mr Banuri should be given full control, adding that out of the total 21, 11 members attended the meeting and restored Dr Banuri’s power unanimously.

The meeting was attended by HEC Chairman Tariq Banuri, Dr Bhawani Shankar Chowdhry, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Shamsh Kassim Lakha, Dr Faisal Bari, Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi, retired Lt Gen Asif Mumtaz Sukhera, retired Lt Gen Mohammad Asghar, Ms Durrani, Mira Mohyiuddin Soomro and HEC Executive Director Shaista Sohail.

Dr Banuri was appointed as chairman of the commission by former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for a four-year term in 2018, which is going to end next month. However, he remained out of office, due to amendments made to the HEC Ordinance by the previous government, in a bid to reduce his term.

After sacking Dr Banuri, the previous government had appointed former HEC chairman Dr Attaur Rahman as a new member of the commission.

During an interview, Dr Banuri had alleged that he had been removed from his post because he had initiated the accountability process of three HEC-funded research centres supervised by Dr Atta.

He had also alleged that the research centres received funds of around Rs1 billion annually but their outcome was not satisfactory.

Furthermore, Dr Banuri had also alleged that his objections to the “so-called knowledge economy” project under Dr Atta, which required a funding of Rs30 billion, also did not sit well with the government.

Dr Atta, however, had rejected these allegations last year. Interestingly, Dr Atta was among 10 members, who did not turn up in the meeting on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2022