LAHORE: The full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday summoned provincial minister Zaeem Hussain Qadri to explain his role in the establishment of the Lahore campus of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan.

The bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi was hearing a case about alleged illegality of the BZU sub-campus in Lahore. It transpired that a 2013 notification approving establishment of the sub-campus also carried signature of Mr Qadri, then special assistant to the chief minister.

The bench was also surprised to learn that the approval of the campus was granted the same day of filing the application and without waiting for a complete summary from the chief minister.

When asked by the bench, BZU former vice chancellor Khwaja Alqama admitted that approval from the Syndicate was not sought for the establishment of the sub-campus.

During the hearing, the bench was told that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was also probing the sub-campus scam.

However, Justice Naqvi observed that the court would not allow anyone to hide behind the NAB proceedings. At this juncture, the judge also questioned performance of the bureau and said the court would find out the truth.

The three-judge bench sought personal appearance of provincial minister Qadri for Jan 19 and also summoned complete record of the students of the sub-campus enrolled with the main campus (Multan).

Higher Education Department Punjab Secretary Nasim Nawaz was also present in court.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2017