PESHAWAR, Feb 8: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday put on notice the chairman of the Pakistan Engineering Council and two other officials in a contempt of court petition.

The bench fixed Feb 22 for next hearing and directed the alleged contemners to submit their replies to the court before that date.

The petition was filed by 92 graduates of the CECOS (Continental Electronic and Computer Oriented System) University. The court had accepted the petition on Sept 14, 2004, and the engineering council was directed to implement the order within three months.

The council did not recognise the degree of the petitioners and asked them to attend 'remedial' courses for four months and then appear in an exam.

The court set aside the council's directives and ordered that the petitioners should be registered by the council.

The respondents in the petition are the enrolment committee of the Pakistan Engineering Council through its registrar Mahbood Zafar, Z.M. Paracha and Mohammad Akram, the chairman.

Advocate Qazi Muhammad Jamil appeared for the petitioners and stated that despite the issuance of notice by the court to alleged-contemners, they had neither appeared nor filed any reply.