LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday allowed more time to the Punjab University and other respondents for submission of replies to a petition of a Baloch girl student challenging a notification of her suspension that had declared her a ‘miscreant’.

Advocate Asad Jamal appeared on behalf of the petitioner and informed the court that the respondents failed to furnish the replies while the petition was pending since August 2024. He pointed out that the PU authorities had been conveying ambiguous and vague messages to the petitioner, a law student, under the impugned notification. He said the latest message was a part of a harassment campaign being waged by the respondents against the petitioner.

The counsel said requiring the petitioner to appear before a disciplinary committee was illegal and highly questionable since the petition against the notification was still pending before the court. He asked the court to set aside the impugned notification and also order the PU authorities to release the LLB third year final result of the petitioner.

Justice Hassan Nawaz Makhdoom regretted that the respondents failed to submit parawise comments to the petition since August 2024.

The judge directed the respondents to submit the comments by Feb 25 without fail.

In her main petition, the Baloch student assailed the powers exercised by PU acting vice chancellor and head of security office to suspend students on any ground whatsoever.

The petition said the petitioner was never informed about the proceedings initiated on the basis of an undertaking which the university requires every candidate to submit at the time of admission.

The petition sought a declaration from the court against the undertaking for having been obtained under coercion and contrary to the constitutional and legal mandate.

Last year, the PU had assured the court that the petitioner would be issued her roll number slip for LLB examinations.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2025