PESHAWAR: Vice-Chancellor of the Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Prof Iftikhar Ahmad on Monday moved the Peshawar High Court seeking a stay order against the governor’s orders to send him on forced leave for 90 days.

The vice-chancellor filed an urgent application for the purpose as his main petition filed earlier against the governor’s Apr 22, 2021, orders was fixed for hearing on Sept 23.

The application was filed through senior lawyer Qazi Mohammad Anwar.

The VC requested the court to stop the respondents, including the government, from acting against him until the final decision on his main petition.

PHC fixes his main petition for hearing on Sept 23

He said his writ petition along with interim relief was fixed for hearing on May 6.

The VC claimed that since there was only one division bench for May 6, the heavy workload led to the removal of his main petition from the cause list for that date and it was fixed for hearing on Sept 23.

Prof Iftikhar said the petition was of urgent nature and had raised questions of constitutional and law interpretation. He said if the interim relief was not granted, the main petition would become infructuous.

Apart from the governor’s forced leave orders, the petitioner had also challenged the March 16 decision of the provincial cabinet about the up-gradation of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Gomal University as a full-fledged agriculture university.

The petitioner said a university by the name of Agriculture University DI Khan had already been functioning and its name was placed at Serial No 12 of the Schedule of KP University Act, 2012, and therefore, no new university with same name could be created.

He said he was appointed the vice-chancellor of the university for three years through a notification on Mar 6, 2020.

The petitioner said the provincial cabinet, in its 52nd meeting on Mar 16, approved the upgradation of the Faculty of the Agriculture of the Gomal University as a university.

He contended that the cabinet’s decision appeared to be defective and against the spirit of Section 3 of the KP Universities Act, 2012.

The petitioner said he, in good faith and in the best interest of the university, addressed a letter to the prime minister on Mar 18 pointing out few defects in the government’s decision.

He said the Chief Minister’s Secretariat addressed a letter to the provincial secretary higher education for taking necessary action against the petitioner and the very next day of sending letter to the prime minister, the higher education department called explanation from him.

The petitioner added that a campaign of threats of disciplinary action and harassment was thus started against him forcing to submit his resignation on Apr 1.

He said no action was taken on that resignation, so it was rendered ineffective and had been withdrawn.

The VC said the governor in his capacity as the chancellor of the university sent him on forced leave for a period of 90 days for opposing or criticising the decision of the provincial government.

He said the governor couldn’t issue the impugned orders without the cabinet’s advice under Article 105 of the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2021