LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been asked to appoint the vice chancellor (VC) of Punjab University in accordance with the directions of the Lahore High Court (LHC) from the candidates already shortlisted for the slot.

The LHC recently ordered the Punjab government to proceed with the appointment of VCs for four public sector universities -Punjab University (PU), Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), University of Sargodha, and Nawaz Sharif University ofEngineering and Technology Multan -`strictly on the basis of recommendations of the Search Committee by considering a panel ofthreepersonsinthe case ofeach university`.

The government appointed VCs for LCWU and Sargodha university on the recommendations of the search committee, which were not observed in the appointments at PU and Nawaz Sharif university as the `CM was kept in dark` `The chief minister was not briefed about the candidature of Dr Mujahid Kamran who topped the list of three candidates the search committee finalised,` a varsity teacher said.

`In the summary submitted to the CM by the higher education secretary, Dr Mujahid Kamran was recommended for interview as third candidate. The law secretary also declared Dr Kamran eligible for the slot since the reservations of one member of the search committee were his personal views and didnot put any legal bar on his eligibility,` the teacher said and added that the CM should decide between `merit and opinion` of one member of the committee.

PU faculty members and former general secretary of Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association, Dr Mahboob Hussain, told Dawn that a number of teachers were going to petition the chief minister to look at `real facts` in this case and decide the matter at the earliest, as there had been uncertainty in the varsity for several months. They asked the government not to constitute a new search that would shortlist fresh candidates.

`The chief minister should appoint the PU VC on the recommendations of the search committee which has shortlisted three candidates -Dr Mujahid Kamran, Dr Zakaria Zakir and incumbent provisional VC Dr Zafar Moeen Nasir, they said.

According to a summary of thehigher education department submitted to the CM in the PU case, two members -Syed Babar Ali and Zafar Iqbal Qureshi -of the fivemember search committee objected to the candidature of Dr Kamran as `he had already enjoyed two terms as VC and was 64 years and 10 months old at the time of applying for the post`.

However,PunjabHigherEducation Commission Chairman Dr Nizamuddin and Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha expressed reservations over this decision and said it would not be correct to leave him (Kamran) out.

The higher education secretary said: `As the matter stands, the search committee is to present a panel of three candidates to be interviewed by the CM who in its opinion are the best suited.

Meanwhile, a five-member subcommit tee headed by the secretary held a meeting on Tuesday to devise a policy/criteria for the appointment of VCs.