LAHORE: Rejecting the UET administration’s stance, the Punjab Higher Education Department has once again directed the varsity’s vice chancellor to denotify the “unlawful appointment of registrar, deputy registrars, controller of examinations and others.”

In response to the UET letter of March 29 under which the ‘prerogative’ of the department’s Special Departmental Accounts Committee (SDAC) was challenged, Additional Secretary Muhammad Tanveer Jabbar has asked the VC to withdraw the notifications of the aforementioned appointments within seven days.

“In response to your letters of March 29 and January 21, No Univ/Reg/PS/102 and Univ/Reg/PS/21 respectively, the case was analysed with higher education department at length and an advice was also sought from the Secretary (Regulations), Services and General Administration Department, on the subject, who observed the phrase BS-17 or equivalent or above prima facie connotes public sector experience. Hence, the private sector experience cannot be considered while making said appointments under the UET statutes,” explains the department’s letter of June 12 to the VC.

“In view of the above, it is apparent that the decision of SDAC was correct and all irregular appointments must be de-notified,” it reads.

The letter concludes with request to implement the decision of SDAC (of Jan 25, 2016) in letter and spirit by de-notifying the unlawful appointments/promotions of registrar, deputy registrar and controller of examinations within seven days under intimation to the HED’s secretary.

The varsity administration had earlier called into question the ‘prerogative’ of the SDAC and its own resident auditor to “highlight alleged illegal appointments.” It claimed that the varsity’s Syndicate was the only competent authority/forum to look into the issue of (alleged unlawful) appointments.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2017