Appointment of acting executive director: HEC chairman withdraws notification

The Chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC) withdrew his notification pertaining to appointment of acting Executive Director Qamar Zaman, reverting back to previous stance. Dr Javaid Laghari, Chairman of HEC issued a notification Wednesday that reversed his previous orders.
It said 'In view of the foregoing, letter No 1-1/CHR/HEC/12/316 dated December 6, 2012 is hereby withdrawn. Consequently, the stance taken and communicated through earlier letter 1-1/CHR/HEC/12/312 dated December 3, 2012 becomes effective forthwith'. The letter further said, 'A number of Commission members expressed concern over my letter No 1-1/CHR/ HEC/ 12/316 dated December 6, 2012 which was issued without the approval of the commission, and asked me to withdraw it. Therefore, after seeking counsel, I decided to withdraw it and informed the legal counsel for HEC on December 9 that the decision of the Commission meetings of August 27, 2012 and September 16, 2012 stands valid'.
The Chairman on the directions of the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Training held on December 5 had allowed acting ED Qamar Zaman to perform his duties and start the process of hiring permanent ED.
Former ED Sohail Naqvi's removal by the Prime Minister being Controlling Authority of HEC has been challenged in the Supreme Court and in Islamabad High Court. The case was heard by a three-member bench of SC headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. On the other hand, the association of permanent HEC employees was of the view that the chairman has challenged the writ of the government and was not ready to implement the Prime Minister's directives, therefore, he should be removed.