SAHIWAL: Merit violations have been observed in Fall 2025 admissions to the Computer Science Department of the Comsats University Islamabad (CUI) and at its Sahiwal and Vehari campuses.

Two students who were initially admitted to the regional campuses were allowed migration to the

CUI having closing merit of 88 per cent, way above Sahiwal campus’ 74pc and Vehari campus’ 69pc closing merit.

This migration appears to contravene the Inter-Campus Migration Policy (ICMP), which was formally approved by the University Syndicate on Aug 30, 2024.

Sources say interim CUI Rector personally approved the admission and migration of the students

To conceal the irregularity, both students were initially admitted ‘on paper’ to the Vehari and Sahiwal campuses and then immediately allowed migration to Islamabad.

Practically both students were placed at the Islamabad campus from the first day of the Fall 2025 semester, violating Section 1(III) of ICMP-2024, which clearly states: “Undergraduate students shall be eligible to apply for inter-campus migration only after completing at least one semester at the parent campus,” i.e., the mother campus where admission was granted on merit.

Admission records show that one student was admitted to Sahiwal campus under Admission Form No 10630518, Roll No FA25-BCS-114, with a 74pc aggregate, and the other to Vehari campus under Admission Form No 10620475, Roll No FA25-BCS-115, with a 69pc aggregate.

These students were shifted to Islamabad without attending a single class at their parent campuses, in direct violation of ICMP-2024.

In response to a written query, Dr Shamsul Qammar, CUI Registrar, stated: “The university iterates that all admissions at Comsats University are carried out on merit. However, students are migrated to other campuses according to Comsats University’s approved Inter-Campus Migration Policy for uUndergraduate students, wherein the Rector is the final authority to decide cases pertaining to inter-campus migrations as per Clause XII.”

He further claimed: “In both referred cases, students fulfilled the approved criteria for admission at their parent campuses and were migrated under the same policy. Therefore, no anomaly has been observed.”

However, this assertion contradicts the policy itself. The students did not meet the closing merit required for Islamabad campus, nor did they complete one semester at their parent campuses — a prerequisite under Eligibility Criteria, Section 1(III) of ICMP-2024.

Moreover, Procedures for Migration, Section 2, Clause XII allows the Rector to consider appeals from aggrieved students under verified exceptional circumstances. Yet, in these two cases, no such appeals were documented.

When Dawn inquired whether procedures under Clause 2(I–VII) were followed — including issuance of no objection certificates (NOCs) from both parent and destination campuses — no documentation was provided.

Abdul Majid, assistant manager, Rector’s Office, failed to produce any record of appeals, decisions, or NOCs.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2025