SHC seeks Sindh Govt reply over universities' amended law

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday sought reply from the provincial government within two weeks over a petition challenging the Sindh Universities Amendment Act 2018, ARY News reported.

A bench of the high court issued notice to the government of Sindh.

“The court will act if found violation of the basic human rights”, the bench said during the hearing.

Petitioner Altaf Shakoor had challenged the new universities’ law of Sindh and pleaded the high court to declare the universities act null and void.

The chief minister, chief secretary, governor and Sindh Assembly have been nominated as parties in the case.

The petition said that the law was passed with mala fide intent and it would close doors of education to students of urban areas of the province.

The legislation snatches the authority of the governor, who represents the federation and empowers Sindh chief minister to have the final say on the administrative affairs of the universities, petition said.

The petitioner also claimed that after passage of the act, universities were no longer independent institutions as government representatives would occupy eight to ten seats in their syndicates. The petition expressed apprehension that higher education in the province would suffer if the law was not annulled.