PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday turned down plea of Peshawar Diocese Bishop seeking a stay order till filing of an appeal before Supreme Court of Pakistan against a judgment of the court of declaring historical Peshawar Edwardes College a nationalised entity and not a private educational institution.

The bench of Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Abdul Shakoor rejected the petition filed by Bishop Humphery Sarfaraz Peter, who stated that the high court had decided his writ petition on October 1 and the detailed judgment had so far not been written.

He said that he wanted to approach Supreme Court against the said judgment. He added that the respondents including the provincial government were bent upon to interfere in the college affairs that would cause legal complications and irreparable loss to the petitioner’s community.

Petitioner requests court to suspend judgment till he approaches SC

The bishop requested that the operation of the said judgment might be suspended till filing of petition before the Supreme Court.

The same bench had on October 1 rejected a petition filed by Bishop Humphery Sarfaraz Peter, requesting to declare the college, which was set up in 1900, a private institution in light of an earlier judgment delivered by the court in 2016 and to stop the government from interfering in its affairs.

The bench had also accepted a writ petition filed by several of the college faculty members including its vice-principal Shakil Ahmad Nisar, challenging the stance of the bishop stating that all privately managed schools and colleges had been taken over by the government in 1972.

They had requested the court to declare the college as autonomous institution governed by the BoG notified in 1974.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor had been chairing the said BoG, but in March this year the Diocese committee had abolished the BoG and formed the one chaired by the bishop.

The bench had also allowed an application filed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, requesting the court to recall its judgment delivered in 2016 in a writ petition filed by an educationist, Malak Naz, wherein the court had declared the college a private institution.

The petitioner’s counsel on Tuesday contended that there was unrest among the religious minorities in the country as well as abroad over the administrative control of Edwardes College. He stated that many demonstrations had been held there as well as in foreign countries, demanding of the government not to interfere in the affairs of the college.

The bench observed that it was a local legal issue and why they were internationalising it?

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general contended that the college had been facing irreparable loss due to the attitude of the petitioner as students in a large number had been quitting it and joining other institutions.

He argued that on the basis of request of filing an appeal before the apex court, the high court could not stay operation of its earlier judgment.

He pointed out that following the verdict of the high court, the provincial government had so far not taken any step and the claim of the petitioner of interference by the government in the affairs of the college was wrong.

He contended that the bench had delivered the judgment after detailed arguments and keeping in view the entire record and there would be no justification in issuing a stay order in favour of the petitioner.

The bishop had contended in his earlier petition that Edwardes College was established as a private missionary educational institution by Church Mission Society and it had its own financial resource, which were created through donations and fee, etc.

Contrary to his claim, the faculty members had stated that in the wake of the nationalisation drive in 1972, Edwardes College was the only private institution in the province, which was nationalised.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2019