KARACHI: Following the approval of a summary by the Sindh chief minister, the universities and boards department is in the process of sending a show-cause to Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University Lyari Vice Chancellor Prof Akhtar Baloch over sexual harassment charges.
Sources told Dawn CM Murad Ali Shah had approved the summary for issuance of the show-cause notice for removal of Prof Baloch from the post.
The sexual harassment case against the Lyari varsity VC was reported in January this year. Prof Baloch was sent on forced leave after an inquiry was instituted against him.
The inquiry committee was led by Prof Mohammad Saeed Quraishy, VC of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and comprising Prof Tayyaba Zarif, VC of Government College University, Hyderabad, and Prof Nazli Hussain of DUHS.
It proposed issuance of a show-cause notice to Prof Baloch for removal from the post under the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University, Lyari, Act 2009, as amended by Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) Act, 2018.
According to the committee’s findings, Prof Baloch had sent an inappropriate video from his mobile phone to a woman, who later filed a complaint against him.
The committee in its recommendations, according to the summary, had suggested technical assistance for a forensic examination. The chief minister granted approval for the same and later the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was involved in the case.
The FIA in its report submitted to the universities and boards department stated that Prof Baloch handed over “the evidentiary item [mobile phone] with a delay of approximately five months for searching data related to sexual harassment allegedly committed by vice chancellor”.
The Aug 4 summary said: “Dr Baloch himself admitted that video of immoral content has been shared with the complainant unintentionally, sometime claiming that the cell phone was hacked and sometime saying that [the video] might have been sent by kids.
“Moreover, he couldn’t give plausible explanation as to ascertain whether his phone was in fact hacked as claimed by him,” it said.
Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2022
