ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday set aside the appointment of Zia Batool as chairperson of Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority(Peira).

IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, while deciding the petition of former member (Peira) Imtiaz Ali Qureshi, ordered the federal government to de-notify Ms Batool forthwith. According to Mr Qureshi, Ms Batool did not possess the degree required to apply for the post advertised in 2019.

Ms Batool was appointed in October 2019 by the education ministry for a three-year term on the MP-II Scale. Mr Qureshi alleged that Ms Batool was appointed in sheer violation of rules.

He stated in the petition that the qualification notified in the advertisement for the recruitment of the Peira head was a master’s degree in Education Planning and Management, Public Administration/MBA, Law or PhD and MPhil in these subjects or allied subjects.

He claimed that the chairperson held a master’s degree in agriculture economics from the University of Faisalabad, which according to him did not fall in the category required for the appointment.

It is clearly evident that Ms Zia Batool does not possess basic requisite qualification for eligibility to even apply for the post of chairman of the authority.

Therefore, his appointment has been made in violation of rules and selection criteria and hence terminable forthwith, he pointed out in his petition.

He made several other allegations against the chairperson.

Justice Kayani noted that despite repeated court orders, the authorities did not provide a copy of Ms Batool’s educational credentials, since these went missing.

He ordered the Establishment Division to hold an inquiry into her missing educational record and sought a report in three months.

As per court orders, the case might be remanded to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in case the committee found any irregularity.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2022