HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court has stayed till March 26 the process of preparation of a summary for the appointment of chairmen of various educational boards of the province and issued notices to the officers involved in the appointment process.

A division bench comprising Justices Mahmood A. Khan and Mohammad Hasan (Akber) passed the order on March 4 on a joint petition filed by petitioners, Abdul Jabbar Abbasi and Sikandar Ali Mirjat, who had moved the court to secure their ‘right’ to be considered for appointment [as chairmen of boards] in accordance with set criteria.

The bench asked Chief Secretary of Sindh, Secretary of Universities & Boards, members of search committee and eight private candidates [for posts of chairmen] -- cited as respondents by the petitioners -- to produce material before the court, which showed the petitioners had been considered for the posts in accordance with an earlier order of the court passed on their suits.

Advocate Mohammad Ali Lakhani informed the court that the petitioners were plaintiffs in the suits filed against the respondents on which the court had passed an order on Dec 13, 2024, granting the petitioners the right to be considered for appointment [as boards’ chairmen].

Issues notices to officers involved in the recruitment process

He contended that in violation of the said order and despite availability of the petitioners, a summary had been prepared from which the petitioners’ names had been excluded without giving any explanation and the persons favourable to the respondents were shown to be available for the posts [of boards’ chairmen] at the same time.

The court hence issued notices to the respondents as well as to the additional advocate general to appear in court on March 26 and said that till that date the “subject summary shall not [be] proceed[ed] with to the adversity of the petitioners and on the said date officials of the respondents shall come up with the material that shows the petitioners have been considered [for the posts they had applied for] in accordance with the order dated Dec 13, 2024”.

The petitioners had taken part in the process of selection of chairmen of boards started by the search committee and raised questions over the recommendations made to the chief minister for consideration of the candidates (respondents No.4 to 11) as chairmen of various intermediate and secondary educational boards. The respondents (4-11) had no prior requisite experience, they said.

The search committee comprised Dr S.M. Tariq Rafi, chairman of Sindh Higher Education Commission (SHEC); Mohammad Abbas Baloch, secretary of Universities & Boards, and Moinuddin Siddiqui, secretary of SHEC, they said.

They said that Search Committee Act, 2022, concerned appointment of vice chancellors and did not provide for interference in the affairs of universities and boards that were exclusively regulated under the Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education Ordinance, 1972.

The petitioners said they had applied against eight vacancies advertised for educational and technical boards and not only did they satisfy the criteria they were overqualified.

They said the advertisement was a result of an unlawful step by the caretaker chief minister thus the process of search committee too became illegal. The chief minister disregarded his mandate and attempted to overstep his duty of performing routine functions, they said.

They pleaded that the process was marred by controversy since its inception inasmuch as initial summary dated Feb 3, 2025, floated by the Universities & Boards Department recommended all the respondents save respondent No.10 to be appointed as board chairman.

They said the process lacked credibility as the controlling authority i.e., chief minister endorsed the recommendations of the search committee without inquiring into the criteria or the rationale behind their selection and without noticing glaring contradiction in two summaries submitted on March 1, 2025.

They said that Sikandar Ali Mirjat filed suit (No.93/2024) and Prof Dr Ahmed Ali Brohi and others filed the suit (No.1178/2024). A single judge bench disposed of the suits through Dec 13, 2024, order after secretary of Universities & Boards made a statement that ‘in cases where candidates with equal qualifications are available, preference will be given to those with experience working within a department’. But the secretary acted against his own statement thereby committing contempt of court, they said.

They said the respondents acted contrary to the law and in violation of established legal norms and the impugned summary lacked criteria justifying selection of the candidates. They said the search committee had acted beyond its mandate by publishing a waiting list, which it was not authorised to do.

The summary, which recommended selection of specific candidates, was a testament to arbitrary exercise of discretion and unauthorised publication of a waiting list without any legal basis further exemplified mala fide and ultra vires actions of the respondents warranting judicial intervention, said the petitioners.

They prayed the court to declare that the process of appointment of chairmen of boards as illegal. The respondents should be directed to follow the service structure approved by controlling authority and the court should restrain the respondents from notifying respondent candidates as chairmen, they said.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2025