LAHORE: The Lahore High Court`s Multan Bench on Friday directed the administration of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) to address grievances of eight faculty members, who were passed over for promotions, citing concernsovertransparencyand due process.

The court disposed of multiple writ petitions after the university`s law officer agreed that the professors`pendingappealsshouldbeformally decided.

The cases, which follow a strikingly similar pattern, involve eight petitioners including Dr OmarQadoos and Dr Junaid, both of Commerce Department, Dr Faridah Yousuf and Dr Jamil Ahmad, both of Islamiat Department, Dr Abuzar Abid Siddiqui of Basic Sciences, Dr Abdul Raheem of Soil Sciences, Dr Shahzad Ahmad of Mathematics, and Aqsa Iram Shahzadi of Mass Communication. All had applied for the professorial and associate professor positions advertised by the university in 2021.

The petitioners contended that despite possessing the required qualifications, extensive research publications, and positive recommendations from their departments and foreign experts, the university`s Selection Board, in meetings held in April and July of 2025, did not recommend them for appointment.

The petitioners had alleged that the board provided no reasons for not selecting them and, in a controversial move, recommended to abolish the very posts. They argued that this act was beyond the board`s jurisdiction and was a clear attemptto bypass the mandatory process of considering eligible internal candidates.

The court, noting that statutory representations filed by the petitioners were languishing without a decision, directed the BZU vice chancellor and other relevant authorities to decide these appeals within a fortnight.

The judges, including Justice Hassan Nawaz Makhdoom and Justice Syed Ahsan Raza Kazmi, specifically ordered that the decisions must be `speaking orders, meaning they must detail the reasons for the outcome.

The court had also set specific dates for the petitioners to appear before the university authorities for personal hearings, a right guaranteed under the BZU Act, 1975.

In one subsequent development, the university has already acted on a court order in Dr Shahzad Ahmad`s case, with the Syndicate deciding to review the evaluations of the remaining candidates and replacing the term `abolished` with `re-advertised.

The university advertised one seat of professor in the Commerce Department, two professor and one associate professor seats in the Islamiat Department, one professor seat in the Basic Sciences Department, two professor seats in the Soil Sciences, one professor and three associate professors seats in the Mathematics Department, and four associate professor seatsin the Mass Communication Department.

The decisions were made by the Selection Board in its meeting held on July 12, 2025. The board reviewed candidate dossiers, external evaluation reports, and conducted interviews before arriving at its recommendations.

In the Commerce Department, two internal candidates Dr Umar Qadoos and Dr Junaid were considered. The board decided to abolish the post, recommending no candidate for appointment. For the two posts at the Islamic Studies Department, two internal candidates Dr Munaza and Dr FaridahYousuf applied. The board recommended Dr Munaza for the appointment and decided to abolish the second post. A separate post for associate professor in Islamic Studies, for which there was one internal candidate, was also abolished.

AttheBasicSciencesDepartment, a post of professor was abolished despite one internal candidate and others from external institutions applying. In the Soil Sciences Department, against two posts of professor, the board recommended Dr Zafar-ul-Haq for appointment and abolished the second post, de clining the candidacy of Dr Abdul Rahim. A post of professor in Mathematics was also abolished outright.

For associate professor positions in the Mathematics department, three posts were available. The board recommended Dr Amjad Ali for one post and abolished the remaining two, despite three internal candidates in the running.

Finally, for the Institute of Media & Communication Studies, four postsof associate professor were considered. All shortlisted candidates were internal, as external applicants had withdrawn. The board recommended Dr Saima Manzoor and Dr Asifa Safdar for appointment. The other two internal candidates, Dr Aqsa Iram Shehzadi and Dr Ahsan Bhatti, were not called for an interview, and the two remaining posts were abolished.

Overall, the Selection Board recommended appointments for only 4 out of the 15 posts and the remaining 11 posts were abolished. The board cited inconsistencies in evaluation reports and that the available candidates, except those recommended, did not meet the required standards for appointment.

However, a former BZU registrar, on the condition of anonymity, told Dawn that under the rules, the board did not have the power to abolish any advertised seat. He said that the Syndicate meeting also raised objections over the decisions of the board and these reservations were not recorded.