LAHORE: (APP) A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday suspending the judgment of a single bench regarding vice chancellors' appointment, provisionally appointed vice chancellors in four universities of the province.
The bench provisionally appointed Dr Zaffar Mueen Nasar, Dr Uzma Quraishi, Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad and Dr Muhammad Zuber as VCs Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University, University of Sargodha and Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering & Technology Multan, respectively.
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The bench headed by LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah passed these orders on an intra court appeal (ICA) by the Punjab government challenging the LHC single bench orders in VCs appointment case.
The court further held that the VCs already appointed in Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, Government College University Lahore, University of Education Lahore, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Ghazi University
Dera Ghazi Khan, Government Sadiq Degree College for Women University Bahawalpur, Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering &Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan would act provisionally till the final verdict of the appeal and linked their appointment with final outcome of the appeal.
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The bench issued notices to the respondents for January 12 and sought reply besides seeking assistance from Attorney General of Pakistan and Advocate General Punjab.
Earlier, Additional Advocate General Punjab Shan Gull submitted that after the 18th amendment, the "Education" subject had been devolved to the provinces. He said appointment of vice chancellors in public sector universities fall within provincial domain and amendments had been brought in laws relating to public sector universities through "The Public Sector Universities (Amendment) Act, 2012", wherein an elaborate process of appointment of Vice Chancellor had been provided.
He contended that the appointment of VCs did not fall within the domain of the Higher Education Commission and was also not covered under Item 12 of Part-II of the Federal Legislative List of the Constitution. He pleaded the court to set aside the orders of the single bench for being illegal.
At this, the bench suspended the single bench orders and provisionally appointed four VCs.
It is pertinent to mention here that LHC single bench had ordered the removal of acting vice chancellors of Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University, University of Sargodha and Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering &
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Technology Multan and appointment of senior most professors as acting vice chancellors of these varsities within 7 days while allowing a petition in this regard.
The court had also declared that the selection process initiated by the Punjab Higher Education Department for the appointment of vice chancellors as unconstitutional and ordered Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan to appoint the vice chancellors in four universities after framing rules and committee for the purpose.