MULTAN, Sept 5: The Bahauddin Zakariya University’s (BZU’s) syndicate would take up the establishment of the BZU sub-campus in Lahore in its meeting on Friday (today), Dawn has learnt.

Earlier, the university claimed that the syndicate on May 25-26 had approved the Lahore sub-campus. Some syndicate members allege that the minutes of the meeting had not correctly been recorded and that the syndicate did not approve the action of the vice-chancellor taken under Section 16 (3) of the BZU Act of 1975.

Several syndicate members are opposing the establishment of the sub-campus to be run under a public-private partnership.

Syndicate member Dr Ashiq Muhammad Durrani wrote to the BZU registrar on June 23 the syndicate had never approved the project as stated by the registrar. He said that it was decided not to circulate any item of agenda; every item was to be placed before the members of the syndicate in its meeting for discussion.

“For this particular item of the agenda, the syndicate made a committee consisting of Muhammad Zaffar Yasin, Prof Dr Zakir Husain, Muhammad Tariq Asad Butt, Dr Muhammad Shaukat Malik and Dr Saeed Akhtar to look into all legal and other aspects of the case to make it transparent,” Dr Durrani told Dawn.

He said that it was also decided that the recommendations of the committee would be placed before the syndicate for discussion and final decision.

He said that it was strange that the registrar wrote in a letter to the administration that the meeting of the syndicate was not expected in the near future and the university did not wait and confirm the participation of member Justice Zafar Yasin (retired).

“Why the university is in a hurry to establish the sub-campus in collaborations with the West Continental Groups?” he said.

Amna Imam, additional secretary (academics) of the Higher Education Department, Punjab, in her letter to BZU Registrar Malik Munir Husain on June 26 stated that she had been directed to “state that this was not an emergency situation and hence does not attract Rule-12 of the Rules of Procedure for the meeting of the syndicate”.

“I am further directed to state that the subject matter be placed on the agenda for discussion on the next meeting of the syndicate of Bahauddin Zakariya University,” she concluded.

Farkhanda Akhtar, a syndicate member, also wrote to the registrar that the importance of the issue demanded an emergent meeting of the syndicate to discuss the deal.

Another member syndicate, Justice Yasin, wrote to the registrar on June 24 that he believed that the minutes of the meeting of the syndicate, held on May 25-26, were not correctly recorded.He said that the syndicate did not approve the actions taken by the vice-chancellor under section 16(3) of the Bahauddin Zakariya University Act of 1975, regarding partnership agreement with West Continental Group, Lahore, for the establishment of sub-campus in Lahore.

“In fact, serious questions are raised regarding the manner in which the matter was presented before the syndicate, and the haste with which the two agreements with West Continental Group were signed and registered,” he stated. He said that to examine the legal and other aspects of the agreement the syndicate constituted a five-member committee and its report has to be presented before the syndicate for a final decision on the agreement that has already been signed and registered.

“The committee in its meeting on June 12 concluded the Public-Private Partnership Act of 2010, invoked in the agreement signed by the vice-chancellor under section 16(3) did not apply in the deal, therefore the agreement is void” he added.

He said that the syndicate as the executive body of the university was to take its decision regarding any partnership agreement after discussion, taking into consideration the report of the committee and all other relevant fact.

The register claimed that the consent of the syndicate members was sought through a circular and majority of the members had approved the sub-campus.

He said that only four out of 11 members of the syndicate had objected to the deal. He said that no illegality was committed by the university in the agreement.

The Lahore sub-campus offers admissions to more than 50 subjects while the admission fee as about double as compare to the main campus.