HYDERABAD, June 25: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court on Saturday stayed till July 18 the appointment of two professors in the Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam (SAUT), and issued notices to the registrar, syndicate and selection board of the university.

On a constitutional petition challenging the professors’ appointment, filed by Prof Dr Sayed Saban Shah Bukhari through Advocate Saulat Rizvi, the court also issued notices to registrar and associate professor, Dr Fateh Mohammad Soomro, and Dr Mohammad Umar Mallah.

Mr Rizvi said that Dr Bukhari, had been awarded Quaid-e-Azam scholarship for his superb academic career and went abroad to Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, USA for higher education where he received his PhD in 1989.

He referred to his post-doctorate research fellowship in USA in 1997 before being appointed as associate professor at SAU at the department of agriculture, education extension and short courses.

He said that Dr Bukhari applied for job as professor or assistant professor after the SAU published an advertisement in a newspaper on December 10 last year. Besides him, Dr Mohammad Umar Mallah and Dr Fateh Mohammad Soomro had also applied for the posts, he said.

As per rule 11 and 12 of the first statute of SAU syndicate made the appointment of a professor on the recommendations of selection board, which was constituted under section 11 of the first statute of SAU.

The first statute said that while selecting candidates for the posts of professor, the board should co-opt or consult three experts on the subject concerned to be nominated by vice chancellor from a standing list of experts on each subject approved by the syndicate on the recommendations of selection board but in the present case the board did not go through the procedure, he argued.

Mr Rizvi said that Dr Fateh Mohammad Soomro was SAU’s director planning. He had also held the additional charge of registrar since last several months though he could not hold an extra charge for more than a month according to rule 9 (a) of Sindh Civil Servant (Appointment, Promotion and Transfer) Rules 1974.