IHC Declares Appointment of Chairperson PEIRA Illegal After 3 Years

Islamabad High Court (IHC) has declared the appointment of the Chairperson of the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) as illegal.

IHC’s Judge, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, announced the reserved verdict of the case challenging the appointment of Zia Batool as Chairperson PEIRA earlier today.

According to details, former PEIRA Chairman, Imtiaz Ali Qureshi, had challenged the appointment of Zia Batool, who was notified as PEIRA Chairperson in October 2019.

Justice Kiyani has ordered Federal Education Ministry to appoint a new Chairperson PEIRA at the earliest and follow the due process for the hiring of the next Chairperson.

Regarding the salaries, perks, and other privileges availed by Zia Batool since her appointment, Justice Kiyani restrained the Education Ministry from recovering their financial value from Zia Batool.

Besides, IHC also expressed annoyance over Education Ministry for not presenting the record of hiring of PEIRA Chairpersons over the years.

Justice Kiyani ordered Establishment Division to form a committee to determine whether the record has been lost as claimed by the Education Ministry and forward the matter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) if the Ministry’s justification turns out to be false.