SC to hear KP Universities’ VCs' appointment case on Feb 6

ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan will hear, on February 6, the case relating to the appointment of vice-chancellors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) universities, ARY News reported.

The bench will be headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan.

The vice chancellor positions in 19 universities of KP have remained vacant for over one and a half years.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, led by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, has refrained from acting on the recommendations made by the caretaker government in February 2024.

The vice chancellor positions were advertised in 2022 during the previous PTI government, but interviews for potential candidates were not conducted, leaving the matter to the caretaker government. After obtaining permission from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the caretaker government completed the interview process and prepared panels of three candidates for each university.

During this period, three members of the Academic Search Committee (ASC) resigned, and the caretaker government replaced them as per routine to continue the process. By the end of January 2024, the process was completed, but due to administrative snags, the file containing a summary of the recommendations could not reach Governor KP for his final approval.

Upon assuming power, the PTI government rejected the recommendations and, in July 2024, decided to re-advertise the positions and form a new ASC, which included the same members except for one. However, some top-listed candidates challenged this decision in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) in August 2024.

The provincial government argued before the PHC that the ASC members substituted by the caretaker government were not legally appointed, as the ECP’s approval was mandatory. The petitioners, however, contended that while the caretaker government had sought ECP permission to proceed with the vice chancellors’ appointment process, replacing a few members for a short 28-day period was a routine matter and did not require ECP’s approval.

On August 22, 2024, the PHC ruled in favour of the petitioners and directed the government to complete the process as per the law. Nonetheless, the PTI government filed a Civil Petition for Leave to Appeal (CPLA) in the Supreme Court in September 2024. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case on February 6.

Currently, 25 out of 34 universities in KP lack permanent vice chancellors, despite the Supreme Court’s directive that provincial governments should not leave such positions vacant for more than six months.

As a result, universities are facing severe financial and administrative crises. The PTI government, despite its claims of prioritizing education, has allocated only Rs3 billion for 34 universities. In contrast, Balochistan has allocated Rs5 billion for 11 universities, Sindh Rs32 billion for 26 universities, and Punjab over Rs12 billion for 52 universities.

University faculty members in KP have strongly criticized the government, accusing it of deliberately pushing universities into financial distress. They claim that excessive hiring was carried out under weak caretaker administrations, and they demand a thorough investigation into appointments made during the current PTI government’s tenure.

Moreover, faculty members have pointed out that many universities in KP are located in conflict-prone areas, where weak administrative structures have turned university hostels into safe havens for miscreants, creating a law and order situation and hardships for students and staff alike.

All eyes are now on the Supreme Court, which is set to hear the case on February 6. Education experts and faculty members hope that the court’s decision will ensure a transparent and non-political appointment process for vice chancellors in KP universities.