Associate professor’s appointment drags on for non-compliance with court orders

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PESHAWAR: Despite clear directions by the superior courts to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, the departments concerned have failed to appoint associate professor in English for the last one year.
An Assistant Professor in English, Arshad Hussain, of the Technical Education Department, has been waiting for compliance with the court order since June 18, 2015. His seniority in service would be affected if the delay continued in his appointment.
According to sources, the Higher Education Department forwarded the summary for further proceedings. It was stuck up in the Establishment Department for final approval for unknown reasons.
As per the decision of two-member bench of Peshawar High Court (PHC) headed by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth issued on June 18, 2015, the petitioner was declared eligible for the post of associate professor in English.
The court had directed the Public Service Commission to issue his recommendation for the post of associate professor English in PBS-19 within 15 days.In the judgment, the high court stated that Arshad Hussain had started his career as a lecturer in English in BPS-17 in 1998 and was subsequently promoted to the post of assistant professor in 2007.
The petitioner, it said, later applied for the post of associate professor of English in BPS-19 in the Commerce Education Department (formerly called Technical Education Department) through proper channel. It said he was termed qualified for the post on the basis of test and interview.
The judgment said after one month on completion of the entire process, the petitioner was summoned for personal appearance on October 16, 2012. It said the candidature of the petitioner was rejected on pretext of lack of experience and another person was given the post.
The petitioner challenged the action in the high court.The high court stated in the decision that perusal of the record revealed the petitioner was qualified as he had 12 years of experience in the relevant field and his application was entertained after proper scrutiny.
The high court had directed the Public Service Commission to issue the petitioner’s recommendation for the post of associate professor within a month. It then directed the provincial government to issue his appointment order within 15 days after receipt of the recommendation.
The provincial government challenged the PHC decision in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. However, a three-member bench of Supreme Court on April 15, 2016 dismissed the provincial government appeal and upheld the PHC decision.
A three-member bench of Supreme Court comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmad, Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Qazi Faez Isa had stated that they would avoid comment on the subsequent conduct of the Public Service Commission and Director of Recruitment of the commission. However, the impugned order recalling the recommendation of Assistant Professor Arshad Hussain was absolutely based on no reason.