HYDERABAD: Sindh Secretary Universities & Boards has appointed chairmen of various education boards in Sindh after two identical petitions challenging these appointments by government were dismissed by a division bench of Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit, on Thursday.

Secretary Abbas Baloch and deputy secretary Farhan Akhtar appeared before the bench comprising Justice Amjad Ali Sahito and Justice Amjad Ali Bohio along with the additional advocate general. Mohammad Ali Lakhani represented the petitioners while Syed Saulat Rizvi appeared for the search committee.

The bench dismissed the petition after hearing the two sides and perused the material and case laws with their assistance.

It said: “For reasons to be recorded later on both these petitions stand dismissed”.

An SHC division bench comprising Justice Mahmood A. Khan and Justice Mohammad Hasan had stayed the process of a summary for appointment of chairmen of various education boards in Sindh till March 26 while issuing notices to respondent officers. It had asked the respondents to come up with material showing as to petitioners having been considered in accordance with an order passed in suit on Dec 13, 2024.

The bench had passed its order on March 4 on a joint petition filed by petitioners Abdul Jabbar Abbasi and Sikandar Ali Mirjat. They had cited the chief secretary Sindh, secretary Universities & Boards, search committee and eight other persons / candidates as respondents.

Following the dismissal of petitions, the department appointed Dr Rafiq Ahmed Chandio as chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Hyderabad. Chairmen in other boards have also been appointed after due process, according to Abbas Baloch.

Speaking to Dawn over phone on Thursday night, he also confirmed that chairman Dr Ahmed Ali Brohi and acting controller of examination Masroor Zai had been relieved from the board. He said that these appointments were pending for long but due to litigation, the process was stalled. Since the stay had now been vacated, these appointments had been notified, he explained.

BISE Hyderabad had been in a crisis for a long time due to internecine fight between BISE officers, including Mr Brohi and Dr Zai. Outgoing chairman Brohi had removed acting controller Dr Zai, information technology manager Aijaz Khan and section in-charge Javed Jam.

Aijaz Khan has been reinstated reportedly following his appeal. An inquiry was also conducted by Chief Minister’s Inspection Team regarding BISE Hyderabad against above-mentioned officials. Another board official, Aziz Qureshi, remained suspended since January.

According to notifications available here, Mohammad Misbah Tunio was appointed as Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) Karachi chairman, Khalid Hussain Mahar as BISE Larkana chairman, Ghulam Hussain Sohoo as BSE Karachi chairman, Musharraf Ali Rajput as Sindh Board of Technical Education (SBTE), Karachi, chairman and Mansoor Rajput as BISE Mirpurkhas chairman.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2025