A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday set aside decision of a single bench and reinstated Dr Muhammad Ashraf as vice chancellor of University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). The bench held that the impugned judgment is against the provisions of the Act and spirit of the appointment process. The bench observed that the marks awarded by search committee were for only tabulation purposes to help it shortlist the candidates and provide three recommendations for the vice chancellor.
The bench said that the chancellor could choose any candidate from amongst the three short listed candidates based on the advice of the chief minister. A law officer argued that the recommendations by the chief minister were his opinion with respect to three candidates to facilitate the recommendation process for the benefit of chancellor. He said the contention of the respondent Dr Iqrar Khan that since he was higher in merit so he should have been appointed was incorrect and against the law and judgments of the Supreme Court.
The UAF legal advisor also supported the arguments of the government and said the appointment of appellant Ashraf was lawful in terms section 14 of the university's Act. Ends/ March 18, 2020 The LHC had annulled the appointment of Dr Ashraf and ordered the Punjab government to notify the candidate highest in merit list.
Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan challenging the appointment of Dr Ashraf pleaded that he was the person highest on merit but the government in sheer violation of merit as well as the directions of the LHC appointed the person lowest on merit as the VC. The provincial government and Dr Ashraf had challenged the verdict of the single bench verdict.
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