LAHORE:TheGovernment College University (GCU), Lahore, told the Lahore High Court on Thursday that it did not deny admission to a woman for wearing veil.

In a written reply, Management Science Department Director Najaf Yawar and member of the interview committee Assistant Professor Immad Upal denied the charges of petitioner Mehreen Shafaq against the institution.

She alleged that the respondents refused her admission to BA Applied Management Sciences for not removing her veil during an interview.

However, the respondents rejected the contention of the petitioner alsoquestioned the maintainability of the petition. They said the admission process was still under way, therefore, the question of denying or granting admission to anyone could not be raised at this stage.

GCU`s counsel argued that the matter needed to be probed by the institution`s authorities first. He said the petitioner did not avail the first remedy available in the law that was the vice chancellor (VC). He argued that the jurisdiction of the VC would be infringed if the court passed any order on the petition.

The counsel asked the court to dismiss the petition for being non-maintainable. He said the petitioner had launched a campaign against the university on social media even thoughthe matter was sub judice.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, however, did not pass any restraining order to this effect.

The judge handed the GCU reply over to petitioner`s counsel and asked him to submit his rejoinder on next hearing. The court deferred the hearing till Oct 16.

Petitioner Ms Shafaq says she passed a written test and qualified for the interview. During the interview, the respondents asked her to remove her veil for confirmation of identity.

She says when she refused to do so, the director refused her admission.

She says she asl(ed the director to let committee`s female coordinator to confirm her identify, but the committee members turned down her request.