Admission to PhD programme: Supreme Court hears appeal against IIUI decision

"Why you people don't promote merit in educational institutions, why things are not transparent?" asked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry while hearing a civil appeal filed by Munazza Razzaq against International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) Law Department.
She alleged that IIUI is promoting nepotism and cronyism in the Law Department, that deprived her of getting admission in PhD Law. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani was hearing the case Munazza Razzaq versus International Islamic University through its Vice Chancellor Islamabad and others on Monday.
Counsel of the appellant, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, and IIUI counsel Shamshad Ullah Cheema and Higher Education Commission (HEC)' lawyer Khawaja Azhar Rasheed appeared before the bench. In his arguments Shaukat Aziz contended that IIUI's law department had turned down HEC rules and regulation and provided a chance to the blue-eyed students in PhD Law admission during the session 2010-11.
He pleaded that it has been clearly expressed in the mandate of HEC that a committee, consisting of three PhD faculty members, duly approved by the HEC, will look after the admission and test process of PhD programs in case National Testing Service (NTS) was not possible due to non-enlistment of the subject.
Counsel of IIUI Shamshad Ullah Cheema informed the bench that in the absence of NTS the Law Department of the University constituted a committee having three PhDs professor including Ms Farkhanda Zia, Tahir Mansori and Professor Brady Coleman who were competent enough to conduct the test for PhD law admission.
The Chief Justice categorically asked whether the three-member committee was approved by the HEC as per the minimum criteria laid down by HEC for PhD admission in absence of NTS. Addressing Cheema, the CJP said: "Please show us the notification approved by the HEC that authorised university's law department admission committee for PhD admission". The court adjourned the hearing till Tuesday.