KARACHI: The University of Karachi’s Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Chair and Convention Centre Director Sahar Gul Bhatti has appealed to chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the Sindh government and the authorities concerned to take notice of an ‘illegal’ notification and get all affairs regarding her removal investigated.

She said this while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday.

She recalled the background by which her appointment was made controversial despite recommendations to the syndicate of KU by the eight-member advisory board of Benazir Bhutto chair that in view of “her qualification, outstanding performance and initiating five years’ research programme” her two-year tenure be increased to four years in the light of rules.

This recommendation was approved by the KU syndicate in its meeting on December 29, 2016, she said.

She added that the corruption referred to in the “prejudiced special audit report” pertained to the period when despite her appointment as full-time director, she was not given the charge and her powers were exercised by the former director in-charge.

She said for six months from her appointment the former director in-charge refused to hand over financial charge to her and in her presence continued to call himself director of the chair and continued to issue cheques “illegally” until Rs6 million was transferred from the funds of the SMBB chair to the university “illegally”.

Despite all this being brought into the notice of the authorities concerned in writing, the management did not take any action, she added.

She said that under a “conspiracy” hatched by the Universities Board secretary and director of KU Planning and Development, she had been issued an “illegal and unconstitutional notification” on June 6, 2017 for removing her before completion of her extended tenure.

Against this notification she got a stay order from the court and July 5 was fixed for hearing.

Her removal in the presence of the stay order amounted to contempt of court, she said.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2017