ISLAMABAD:
After informing the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday that Dr Mukhtar
Ahmad was not eligible to become the HEC chairman and the prime
minister had turned down a summary containing his name, Nawaz Sharif has
now appointed Dr Mukhtar as the HEC chief. Though the court had given
15 days to the government to complete the process, this has been done
the very next day. Thus the PML-N government continues with its practice
of making controversial appointments.
A search committee headed by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal had finalised three names for the statutory post of the HEC chairman, which included Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, HEC ED, Dr Najma Najam, VC Karakoram University, Gilgit, and Dr Niaz Ahmad, VC Textile University, Faisalabad.
Federal Secretary for Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education Muhammad Ahsan Raja appeared before the IHC on Monday and informed the court that the prime minister had rejected the summary sent by a committee headed by Ahsan Iqbal on the grounds that the persons nominated were not eligible or appropriate for the position.
He also informed the court that the prime minister had constituted another search committee, which would be headed by Khawaja Asif. The court gave the government 15 days to appoint the new HEC chairman after showing its annoyance over the delay. It was obvious that the IHC ordered the government to appoint the chairman by following a laid down criteria. The new search committee had issued a notification to re-interview all the candidates on April 17, 2014.
While the candidates were waiting for their interviews, suddenly the government appointed Dr Mukhtar as the HEC chairman while he was facing cases on his dual degrees taken in the same year and his title of ‘professor’.
The IHC has issued notices simply three days before the case against Dr Mukhtar’s obtaining two degrees in the year 1995, one of PhD Botany and the other of Masters in Business Administration, is heard.
This implies that two or three years before 1995, Dr Mukhtar was studying for both the degrees of PhD and MBA, which is illegal. On the basis of similar reasons, the earlier summary was dropped.
In the reports already published, an HEC spokesman had rejected all the charges against Dr Mukhtar. He said Dr Mukhtar was a very competent person and fulfilled the criteria for the HEC chairman. Some vested interests, he said, launched a vilification campaign against Dr Mukhtar, who is an honest person and an asset for the HEC.
Appointments made by the government are being questioned from the very first day. Either these are top appointments of sports boards or top positions in government departments, organisations, corporations, accountability institutions and big profit earning bodies, the decisions made by the government are being questioned. However, a government official while talking to The News insisted that the premier, under the rules, had full powers to reject the earlier summary for the appointment of the HEC chief and now under the same rules he enjoyed full powers to accept the same summary.
But the question is not of powers of the prime minister but the credibility, eligibility and suitability of all these appointments and the latest appointment has become a classic case as the government has itself informed a superior court that an earlier summary was turned down for the reasons that those nominated did not fulfil the criteria and were not eligible. Dr Mukhtar Ahmad switched his cell off on Tuesday and was not available for his version.
A search committee headed by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal had finalised three names for the statutory post of the HEC chairman, which included Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, HEC ED, Dr Najma Najam, VC Karakoram University, Gilgit, and Dr Niaz Ahmad, VC Textile University, Faisalabad.
Federal Secretary for Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education Muhammad Ahsan Raja appeared before the IHC on Monday and informed the court that the prime minister had rejected the summary sent by a committee headed by Ahsan Iqbal on the grounds that the persons nominated were not eligible or appropriate for the position.
He also informed the court that the prime minister had constituted another search committee, which would be headed by Khawaja Asif. The court gave the government 15 days to appoint the new HEC chairman after showing its annoyance over the delay. It was obvious that the IHC ordered the government to appoint the chairman by following a laid down criteria. The new search committee had issued a notification to re-interview all the candidates on April 17, 2014.
While the candidates were waiting for their interviews, suddenly the government appointed Dr Mukhtar as the HEC chairman while he was facing cases on his dual degrees taken in the same year and his title of ‘professor’.
The IHC has issued notices simply three days before the case against Dr Mukhtar’s obtaining two degrees in the year 1995, one of PhD Botany and the other of Masters in Business Administration, is heard.
This implies that two or three years before 1995, Dr Mukhtar was studying for both the degrees of PhD and MBA, which is illegal. On the basis of similar reasons, the earlier summary was dropped.
In the reports already published, an HEC spokesman had rejected all the charges against Dr Mukhtar. He said Dr Mukhtar was a very competent person and fulfilled the criteria for the HEC chairman. Some vested interests, he said, launched a vilification campaign against Dr Mukhtar, who is an honest person and an asset for the HEC.
Appointments made by the government are being questioned from the very first day. Either these are top appointments of sports boards or top positions in government departments, organisations, corporations, accountability institutions and big profit earning bodies, the decisions made by the government are being questioned. However, a government official while talking to The News insisted that the premier, under the rules, had full powers to reject the earlier summary for the appointment of the HEC chief and now under the same rules he enjoyed full powers to accept the same summary.
But the question is not of powers of the prime minister but the credibility, eligibility and suitability of all these appointments and the latest appointment has become a classic case as the government has itself informed a superior court that an earlier summary was turned down for the reasons that those nominated did not fulfil the criteria and were not eligible. Dr Mukhtar Ahmad switched his cell off on Tuesday and was not available for his version.
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