ISLAMABAD: The management of the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) on Sunday said it will comply with the Supreme Court orders regarding the hiring of its president as the university’s Board of Trustees (BoT) is meeting in Saudi Arabia on Monday (today) to discuss the appointment.

Sources said if the new president was appointed skipping the competitive process, it would be a violation of the apex court orders.

However, IIUI spokesperson Dr Asma Mansoor in an official statement emphasised the university’s unwavering adherence to the injunctions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“Compliance with these directives is not only a legal obligation but also a moral imperative that guides all administrative and governance processes. The leadership recognises that adherence to the Supreme Court’s decisions is fundamental to upholding the principles of justice, transparency, and accountability within the university’s framework.”

Skipping competitive process will be a violation of apex court order, says official

She issued this statement a day before the BoT meeting, in which sources said the appointment of the new president of the IIUI will be discussed.

IIUI is a public sector university and the president of Pakistan is its chancellor. However, President Asif Ali Zardari has authorised the pro-rector, Prof Dr Ahmad Ibn Salem Al-Ameri, who is the rector of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University Riyadh, to chair the meeting. Therefore, the BOT meeting is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Members from Pakistan, including the HEC chairman, who is also the acting rector of IIUI, either online or through physical appearance will attend the meeting.

The sources said that there were certain chances that the BoT will recommend the name of Saudi educationist Dr Ahmad bin Saad Al Ahmad, assistant professor of physiology at Al Imam University Riyadh, for the post of the IIUI president for the four-year term.

On the other hand, sources said in the year 2020, the BoT had decided that in future the president of the IIUI will be appointed through a competitive process like other Pakistani universities. A few months ago, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had also directed that the appointment of the IIUI president should be made through a rigorous and transparent manner.

“Since the position of the president is vacant, therefore, appointment thereto be made in accordance with sub-section (1) of section 13 of the Ordinance, after framing the rules ‘with the help of HEC through IIU’s Board of Governors… in a very rigorous and transparent manner’ as was decided by the University’s Board of Trustees in its 14th meeting, held on 30 June 2020,” read the Supreme Court Judgement dated October 24, 2024.

The judgement added: “Appointments be made to all tenured positions in the universities as prescribed in their respective laws, including those of Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, Directors-General, Deans, Treasurers/Directors of Finance, Controllers of Examinations, Chairpersons and others specified therein, and this must be done transparently and on merit, by stipulating their respective criteria and inviting appointments through their respective websites and advertisements.”

Following the SC orders, this month the Board of Governors of the IIUI met thrice to finalise rules for the appointment of the IIUI president. However, official details of the meetings were not disclosed.

The Supreme Court had also removed Rector Dr Samina Malik and HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed was given the additional charge of the rector IIUI.

However, the university management, the education ministry and the HEC have not taken any serious step for appointment of the rector - a process which involves advertisement to hold a competitive process.

Currently, both the offices of the president and the rector are being run onan ad hoc basis.

The Supreme Court was recently told that the university receives Rs2.1 billion funding from the federal government besides collecting fees from students in addition to Rs600 million from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

IIUI officials said if the BoT was interested in hiring a foreign educationist as the president IIUI, it should also take steps for a bailout package for the university as its aggregate liability has increased to over Rs14 billion.

One of the members of the BoG, Dr Qibla Ayaz, in a letter dated December 13 to the chief justice of Pakistan, who is a member of BoT, had pointed out that in the first two sessions of BoG of IIUI, the criteria of appointment of the president was not finalised and the third session was slated to be held on December 17, but the acting rector scheduled the BOT meeting on December 23 that too in Riyadh.

“The purpose is to appoint the President of the university (IIUI) in sheer violationof Supreme Court’s judgment,” Dr Ayaz wrote. He said the rules stipulated that the agenda of BoT must be shared with the members 15 days before the meeting, but it was not yet shared.

“I don’t know why he [rector] is in a hurry and bent upon disregarding the judgment of the Supreme Court, which had also given a directive that the appointment of the President of the university has to be made after the advertising the approved criteria.”

He also pointed out that in two sessions of BoG, the attitude of the acting rector was dictatorial and disrespectful not only to the members but also to the Supreme Court and its judgement.

Meanwhile, the IIUI statement stated: “Administration of IIUI wishes to address recent concerns raised regarding the conduct and decisions of its leadership. The Board of Governors (BoG) meeting was held in three segments because the meeting was called after nearly fourteen months and contained numerous agenda items.”

It dispelled the impression that there were major disagreements among the members of the BoG.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2024