The Peshawar High Court has sought responses from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and vice chancellors of public universities on a petition challenging the appointment of teaching staff to key administrative posts in varsities across the province.
A bench comprising Justice Mohammad Ijaz Khan and Justice Mohammad Faheem Wali directed all respondents to submit their comments within one month.
The petition was filed by lawyer Mohammad Asif Babar, who asked the court to declare illegal the appointment of teachers to full-time administrative positions such as registrar, treasurer, deputy registrar, director planning and development, and controller of examinations.
He also requested the court to order the authorities to fill these posts with qualified administrative officers and stop the practice of assigning full-time administrative duties to members of the teaching faculty.
The petitioner argued that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Act, 2012, clearly distinguishes between administrative officers, academics, and teaching staff in public universities. He said the law, along with university statutes framed under it, lays down the criteria and procedure for appointments.
According to the petition, Section 17-A of the law, inserted through an amendment in 2016, explicitly states that administrative posts must be filled on a regular basis by administrative officers of the university. It further says that teachers and officials other than administrative officers cannot be posted to such positions.
If no suitable candidate is available, the university must ensure immediate appointment through the prescribed process.
Babar contended that despite this provision, major administrative offices in most public universities in KP have for years been run through acting or additional-charge arrangements, often given to teachers instead of regular administrative appointees.
He asked the court to direct the higher education department and other provincial authorities to take corrective steps to ensure proper governance, accountability, and compliance with the law in all public sector universities in the province.
