LAHORE: The caretaker Punjab government has decided to approach the Lahore High Court Chief Justice with a request to form a judicial commission to investigate alleged drugs and videos scandal at the Islamia University, Bahawalpur (IUB).

This decision follows findings of a government-appointed inquiry committee which confirmed the charges against three IUB officials.

“Following the three-member committee proposals, we’ve concluded that further fact-finding is necessary. To ensure transparency, a judicial commission will investigate the matter. The Punjab government will request Chief Justice Lahore High Court for the commission’s composition,” caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi tweeted on Monday after chairing a meeting on the issue.

The Bahawalpur police have already apprehended varsity Treasurer Prof Dr Abubakar, Chief Security Officer (CSO) Ijaz Husain Shah and Transport Officer Altaf on drug charges.

The investigation also revealed their involvement in blackmail and sexual exploitation of some students and faculty members within the campus.

Official inquiry confirms charges against three varsity officials, blames poor administration

According to a special police report, the arrested officials were part of a group of teachers engaged in selling drugs among students. Additionally, they were accused of organising parties by exploiting and blackmailing girls, using drugs such as ice, liquor and charas (hashish). These illicit activities were allegedly carried out with the help of the IUB security head.

Upon the surfacing of this scandal, the caretaker chief minister established a high-level three-member committee to conduct an in-depth inquiry into the matter. The committee members included Punjab Minerals Secretary Babar Aman, DIG Special Branch Faisal Ali Raja, and Internal Accountability Branch (IAB) DIG Amin Bukhari.

The committee’s findings not only implicated the IUB’s chief security officer, treasurer and others, it also shed light on the university’s poor administration and illegal local police involvement in some varsity affairs.

Prof Dr Athar Mahboob, who headed the IUB as vice chancellor during the last four years, completed his tenure just a week ago on July 25.

One of the participants of the meeting, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the inquiry report found the IUB chief security officer, treasure and others involved in drugs and sexual harassment scandals.

He said the inquiry also found dubious role of the police and highlighted the poor administration of the university.

He said the committee unearthed that the CSO and other university officials were involved in the harassment of students and the number of videos recovered from the officer were not in big numbers.

Following the inquiry report, CM Naqvi took decisive action by ordering the formation of a judicial commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations. He directed the preparation of the request to be submitted to the Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice for the commission’s establishment. The home department is expected to approach the LHC on Tuesday (today)

The chief minister ordered shifting of further investigation into the case to Lahore and issued several directives to address the issue of harassment in universities by establishing anti-harassment cells.

To ensure a more effective response, Naqvi instructed the inclusion of female professors as members of these cells. Moreover, he mandated the formation of a provincial-level Anti-Harassment Cell led by a female secretary, reporting directly to the CM office.

Published in Dawn, Aug 1st, 2023