CJP orders fresh appointment of VCs of several Punjab varsities

LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Sunday directed the vice chancellors of a number of public universities of the Punjab province to step down and ordered the provincial authorities to appoint search committees to make appointments on these posts afresh.

A two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, gave this direction while hearing a case at the apex court’s Lahore registry.

The chief justice asked why senior staff members were ignored during the appointment of the vice chancellors. The Punjab University is an important institution, but had no permanent VC for the past two-and-a-half years, he added.

He asked the secretary higher education to explain as to who is responsible for dereliction in the appointment of the VC. Whether the secretary, the minister concerned or the chief minister is to blame for this, he questioned.

Non-appointment of the VC despite passage of such a long period of time meant that the government is incompetent, the chief justice remarked.

The secretary, however, sought more time for the appointment of the permanent VC of the university. He said the process of the appointment is lengthy and needed significant time.

“If the VC is not appointed within six weeks, you will be responsible,” Justice Nisar told the secretary.

The apex court directed the incumbent vice chancellors of the Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), Rawalpindi and Faisalabad Medical Universities to resign and directed the government to ensure the appointment of new VCs of the university within six weeks.