The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday summoned Secretary Ministry of Education, Training & High Standards in Higher Education on April 14 in a case pertaining to the appointment of a regular Chairman, Higher Education Commission (HEC). A single-member bench comprising Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui resumed the hearing of a plea filed by Khawaja Aurangzeb. The court should be informed about the reasons behind a delay in the appointment of HEC chairman.
During the course of proceedings, Barrister Afzal Hussian, the counsel for petitioner, apprised the bench that the office of Chairman HEC is lying vacant since August 26, 2013. He argued that on November 8, 2013, the court directed the Joint Secretary, ministry of education to appear before it and inform it about the steps taken for the appointment of Chairman HEC. However, the appointment of Chairman could not be made so far.
Barrister Afzal stated that as per HEC Act, the federal government has to appoint a regular chairman within 90 days. The slot of a permanent chairman HEC is still lying vacant even after lapse of six months, which is affecting the affairs of the higher education regulatory body, he said. Afzal argued that as per HEC Ordinance 2002, all the key decisions related to higher education have to be taken by the Commission's board, which is headed by its Chairman and the Secretariat acts as the executing wing of the Commission which is responsible for implementation of all the orders, decisions, directives of the board as per sections 1 and 2 of the HEC Ordinance, 2002.
Justice Siddique remarked that the chairman HEC`s office is a statutory position and non-appointment of a permanent HEC chairman is a very serious issue, which has also been reported in print and electronic media. The further hearing of the case is adjourned till April 14. Earlier, the court had directed the federal government to appoint a regular chairman HEC till February 11, 2014 as prescribed under the HEC Act.
The government on the directions of the IHC to appoint a permanent head before February 12, set-up a committee headed by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal to shortlist candidates for the slot. The committee selected three candidates, including the incumbent HEC Executive Director Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, National Textile University Faisalabad's Rector Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, and Karakoram International University's former vice-chancellor Dr Najma Najam on February 11. However, all the names were rejected by the Prime Minister, who is the controlling authority. The PM directed Ahsan Iqbal to repeat the exercise; however, Iqbal has taken the plea to be excused and a new committee, headed by Khawaja Asif, was formed.
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