PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has struck downthe appointment of a faculty’s dean to the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, and directed the government to put up a fresh summary to the relevant forums for the purpose.

The directions come as a bench consisting of Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim disposed of a petition of chairman of the UoP Department of Agronomy Prof Mohammad Akmal against the appointment of Prof Fida Mohammad as the dean of the Faculty of Crop Production Sciences.

The petitioner had requested the court to declare the agriculture department’s Nov 27, 2020, notification for the appointment of Prof Fida as the dean.

The bench, however, declared that Prof Fida may look after and run the affairs and daily matters of the office of dean of that faculty for a period of two months or until further notification, whichever was earlier.

Orders preparation of fresh summary to fill post

It directed the agriculture secretary to ‘prepare a fresh summary on merit in consideration of the recommendee’s qualification, experience and otherwise good conduct in service tenure and forward the same to the chief minister for recommendation among the panelist officers’.

The bench added that the provincial governor might order the appointment of the dean of that faculty.

Mukhtar Ahmad Maneri, lawyer for the petitioner, said that position had fallen vacant on the retirement of the incumbent on Oct 10, 2019.

He said the administrative department had prepared a panel of three professors but their seniority was manipulated by placing the petitioner at Serial No 2 instead of Serial No 1 and that the seniority list and information regarding meeting of other criteria by panelists weren’t provided.

The lawyer said the process of the appointment of the dean was kept confidential and finally through the impugned notification Prof Fida was appointed on that position.

He argued that under Article 105 of the Constitution the governor had to act on the advice of the cabinet or the chief minister. He claimed that the original summary sent to the governor/chancellor for approval included name of the petitioner approved by the chief minister by putting a tick mark at his name, but astonishingly the same was erased with whitener and instead Serial No 1 was shown as tick marked.

The bench had requisitioned the original summary on July 8 and it was noticed that initially, the agriculture secretary marked the name of the petitioner at Serial No 2 of the panel but later, the name of Prof Fida was marked after the erasing if the petitioner’s name with white fluid.

It had then directed the provincial advocate general to apprise the court of facts regarding the summary.

In response, the section officer (litigation) at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat had affirmed through a letter on July 27 that the chief minister had not recommended anyone among the panel and that the records revealed that on return of the summary from the governor/chancellor, the name of Dr Fida was marked.

The bench ruled that under Article 105 of the Constitution, it was mandatory for the chief minister to have recommended one of the panelist professors for the purpose of appointment as dean and it was further to be consented or otherwise in consideration of the meritorious position of anyone of them, by the governor/chancellor who was the competent authority.

“We are still doubtful that after the name of the petitioner being erased with fluid, who was the actual recommendee of the worthy governor or else it is the respondent No 5 Prof Fida Mohammad, whose name has been marked,” it observed.

The court added that the summary was silent about the actual recommendee for the post and appointment of the faculty’s dean.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2021