LAHORE: Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) acting VC Dr Shagufta Naz on her last day in office on Tuesday laid off registrar Babar Ali Khan from duty for alleged disobedience.

Later, apparently in a tit for tat action, the suspended registrar sealed the office of the vice chancellor soon after Dr Naz relinquished her charge reaching superannuation, confirmed by the chief security officer (CSO) of the university.

Earlier, in the day Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Naz, who was also acting as vice chancellor, laid off the registrar under Article 12(9) of the LCWU Ordinance 2002 (amendment Act 2012).

The action against Mr. Khan comes in the wake of multiple allegations of non-compliance with lawful directions from the VC’s office. These allegations include bypassing the VC’s authority by directly corresponding with the office of the governor/chancellor, which violates clause 47(3) of the Punjab Rules of Business, 2011. Such actions, it is reported, have created significant disruptions in the university’s operations, particularly affecting academic and administrative matters.

According to a notification, Mr. Khan failed to comply with directives regarding the transfer of a deputy registrar. The VC’s office has issued numerous explanation letters to Mr. Khan over the past few months, none of which were reportedly addressed satisfactorily. These letters highlight a pattern of delaying tactics, misinterpretation of official notifications, and failure to complete major tasks expected of the registrar’s office.

Mr. Khan allegedly misinterpreted a notification issued by the order of the chancellor and proceeded to issue a separate notification without obtaining the necessary approval from the VC. This incident, along with other issues, has raised serious concerns about his management of the registrar’s office.

Prof Dr Naz ordered Mr. Khan to cease performing his official duties in the public interest and gave the charge of the post to the additional registrar to handle the day-to-day operations as a stopgap measure to ensure the smooth functioning of the university.

However, the sources claimed that Dr Naz had wanted to complete the documents of her retirement on time and the registrar had raised objections to the process along with some allowances.

According to a document of retirement of pro-VC available with Dawn, the registrar had raised objections to allowances. The registrar raised an objection that she as an acting vice chancellor could not be given allowances of the post of VC without approval from the syndicate of the university.

Mr Khan told Dawn that the pro-VC was annoyed with him for raising objections to her allowances and also not issuing transfer orders of several faculty members.

He said the chancellor had already issued directions to all acting VCs that they could not hold selection boards and could not take other decisions of changing heads of departments etc.

He said the acting VC could not suspend or remove the registrar and only the chancellor/governor could have the power to do so.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2024