LAHORE - A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday announced the verdict against illegal appointment of University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Registrar Muhammad Asif.
The court directed Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and the vice chancellor to implement the Higher Education Department’s recommendations and remove illegally appointed registrar and the controller for examinations.
The court said that in case the matter is not resolved at the university syndicate’s next meeting, the NAB can proceed in accordance with law against the vice chancellor for misusing his authority.
Sheraz Zaka submitted to the judges on behalf of petitioner Ghulam Hussain that the vice chancellor had made illegal appointment of the registrar. He submitted that an inquiry pending with the NAB has not been completed for the past two years even. He said the Higher Education Department had recommended the vice chancellor to remove the registrar.
The prosecutor general on behalf of the NAB appeared and submitted that already the bureau had directed the vice chancellor to remove the registrar.
The legal adviser on behalf of the UET appeared and submitted that recommendation of the Higher Education Department was not binding hence the pending inquiry of the NAB should be set aside.
The bench announced the verdict by directing the Punjab governor and the vice chancellor to implement the recommendations of the HED inquiry at the next syndicate meeting, and disposed of the petition.
LHC SEEKS FBR RECORD IN POL PRICE HIKE CASE
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday took up the petition challenging the recent increase in the petroleum products’ prices by the government, and summoned Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials along with relevant record.
Justice Shahid Jameel heard the petition filed by a resident against hike in petroleum products’ prices.
The court in its interim order directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials to appear before the court on May 24 along with the record.
The petitioner stated that while prices of petroleum products have decreased in the global market, the federal government has increased prices of petroleum products.
The government has already been charging tax on petroleum products, which is taking a heavy toll on consumers, he added.
On May 3, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet had approved an increase in the prices of petroleum products. It had approved a hike of Rs9.35 per litre in the price of petrol, Rs4.89 in diesel, Rs6.40 in light diesel and Rs7.46 per litre in the rate of kerosene. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had sought an increase of Rs14.37 per litre in the petrol price from May 1.
Just a month ago from the new decision on April 1, the government had hiked the prices of all the petroleum products by up to 6.45 percent. Then the prices of petrol and diesel had been increased by Rs6 per litre while kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO) hiked by Rs3 a litre.
The petition pleads that the hike is the violation of Articles 9, 14 and 15 of the Constitution of Pakistan as it would cause further inflation. The petitioner submitted that the ECC’s decision be declared null and void.
The people and the opposition parties have been criticising the government for the increase in the prices of petroleum products.
They say that decision would bring a new wave of inflation across the country.