MULTAN, Oct 6: Four senior professors have objected to a formula approved by the Bahauddin Zakariya University syndicate for appointments in BS 21 and 22 saying that it is the prerogative of the governor/chancellor to make appointments in these grades.

In a letter to the vice-chancellor who is also the chairman of the syndicate, Prof Karamat Ali, Prof Hayat M. Awan, Prof Ashraf Chaudhry and Prof G. R. Pasha said the authority for appointments in BS 21 and 22 did not lie either with the selection board or the syndicate, as was envisaged in a notification No UNIV-468/ADMIN/3649.

The notification says: “The teachers who will apply against the posts of meritorious professors in BS 21 and 22 shall be offered appointments (if selected by the selection board) four months after the closing date of submission of the applications or from the date of selection board meeting, whichever is earlier.”

After the issuance of notification, the university sought applications for appointment in grade 22 from the in-service teachers and Sept 30 was fixed as the last date for the purpose. Only Prof Karamat, Prof Hayat, Prof Ashraf and Prof Pasha were eligible as they were already in grade 21.

However, a day before the last date of submission of application, the university authorities extended the date up to November 29 under letter No UNIV/468/ADMIN/5325.

In their letter written to the VC on Oct 3, the four professors said the selection board and the syndicate could only recommend the case to the chancellor for appointment. Moreover, they objected that the decision of the syndicate was not in accordance with the basic scales of pay statutes, 1999 (grant of BS 21 and 22) as approved by the chancellor.

They said therefore they were of the opinion that such approval of the offer of appointment in BS 21 and 22 by the syndicate was beyond its jurisdiction and had no legal effect.

When contacted, one of the professors who wrote letter to the VC, said under the university notification the applicants for the posts would automatically be assumed meritorious professors four months after the closing date of filing applications irrespective of whether their cases were recommended by the selection board or approved by the governor/chancellor.

He said the issue was not on the agenda of the syndicate meeting which approved the ‘novel decision’ for appointments in BS 21 and 22 as the matter was put up in the meeting as current work item.

He claimed that the date for the submission of applications had been extended to favour some teachers whose cases for BS 21 had yet to be decided.

Vice-chancellor Dr Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, when contacted, denied that there was any foul play in extending the date.

He said some professors whose cases for the BS 21 were lying pending with the chancellor for the last more than a year had formally requested to extend the date so that they could also apply for the BS 22 post.

Defending the notification regarding automatic elevation in the next grade after four months of the closing date of filing candidature, the VC said he himself convinced the syndicate for the decision to give equal chances of promotion to all the applicants. He said previously the selection boards misused their authority to favour or disfavour a candidate.

However, he could not give any satisfactory answer as to what would happen when the governor/chancellor disapprove a case after keeping it pending for more than four months while the applicant, according to the notification, would have been given the status automatically he had applied for.

The VC said in this case the order of the chancellor would stand effective.

Under the procedure in vogue, applicants for the BS 21 and 22 are promoted the day the chancellor approves their cases irrespective of the fact that how much time he takes to decide the fate of the applicants.

Sources in the university said the ‘controversial’ notification was in clash with the authority of the governor/chancellor and would create complications.