DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A division bench of the Peshawar High Court, Dera Ismail Khan, on Monday suspended the acting vice-chancellor of the Gomal University and directed the advocate general to respond within a week to the petition against the additional charge of the top university office to University of Agriculture VC Prof Masroor Elahi Babar.

Justice Faheem Wali Khan and Shahid Khan heard the plea of lawyer Ahmad Ali Khan here.

The petitioner said acting provincial governor Mushtaq Ghani, who was also the chancellor of Gomal University, sent Gomal University VC Prof Iftikhar Ahmad on forced leave for 90 days on Sept 19, 2022, and gave the office’s acting charge to Agriculture University VC Prof Babar.

He argued that the two universities had a conflict of interest, so how Prof Babar could ‘do justice’ to the Gomal University.

Seeks govt response to plea against the additional charge to agriculture varsity’s VC

The petitioner, who also filed two civil miscellaneous applications along with the petition, said Prof Babar should be immediatelyremoved as the acting VC of the Gomal University and all actions taken by him in that position should be suspended.

He added that the senior dean or senior most professor of the Gomal University should be appointed as the university’s VC.

“The appointment of Prof Masroor Babar is against the University Model Act, 2012,” he claimed.

The civil miscellaneous application called for the suspension of the transfer of the assets of the Gomal University, including around 4,000 students, buildings, animals and other agricultural assets, to the Agriculture University.

Mr Ahmad said the Gomal University’s assets and students would be transferred to the Agriculture University but the Gomal University would pay salary and offer other benefits to staff members. The bench wondered when the university didn’t have money to pay its current and former employees, how it would ‘be able to remain active in this situation’.

Lawyer Amir Farid Sadazai appeared for the University of Agriculture.

The court accepted both requests of the petitioner issued a stay order temporarily stopping the acting vice-chancellor of the Gomal University Prof Babar from exercising any powers from that office and suspended all orders and measures issued by him since assuming the charge of the office on Sept 19, 2022.

It also suspended action on all notifications by the acting VC of the Gomal University until Oct 24.

The court observed that it was a matter of the future of 4,000 students enrolled in the university, so the hearing into the case couldn’t be delayed any further.

It added that the advocate general should submit a reply to the petition within a week.

The petitioner insisted that the vested interests had conspired for the ‘division’ of the Gomal University. He also said there was a conflict of interests in both universities.

The petitioner said University of Agriculture VC Prof Babar was a party to the case, so he was not authorised to take decisions on behalf of both universities.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2022