ISLAMABAD, May 27: Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman Dr Javaid Laghari has directed the administration and coordination wing of the commission to probe into the issuance of warrants for his arrest and take disciplinary action against the law wing for not complying with the court orders which might have led to the court order.

Nasarullah Baloch, a civil judge, Islamabad West, on Saturday issued the non-bailable warrants for the arrest of the HEC chief to ensure his presence in a suit filed by the owner of a commercial building at I-10/3 which was hired by the HEC for the establishment of “National University of Law and Social Sciences” in 2009.

After acquiring the building on rent, the HEC could not complete the project due to lack of funds.

As a result, the building remained vacant till 2012. The owner demanded Rs3.4 million as rent which the HEC refused to pay.

Barrister Abubakar Ammar Sehri, on behalf of the building owner, filed the suit for the recovery of the amount in January 2013.

Initially, the judge issued bailable warrants against the HEC chairman but after his repeated absence the non-bailable warrants were sent out.

The hearing of the matter has been adjourned to June 3.

According to Murtaza Noor, the media coordinator of the HEC, the agreement to hire the building was signed between Barrister Sehri and the project director of the National University of Law and Social Sciences on June 12, 2009.

“The building was vacated on December 31, 2009, and the possession was handed over back to the owner after clearing all the bills. A dispute, however, emerged between the two parties over rights and obligations under the lease agreement which resulted in the litigation,” he said.

He claimed that the issue had neither been brought to the notice of the HEC chairperson nor the commission had received any order.

However, the HEC division concerned has been directed to probe into the matter and if any official of the HEC was found guilty of not complying with the court order, disciplinary action would be taken against him.