IHC dismisses QAU official’s petition

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition filed by an accused, Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Controller of Examinations Sardar Muhammad Babar, who is facing charges from the university administration for sexually harassing a female student.
The accused was sent on forced leave followed by a show-cause notice issued by the university syndicate asking him to submit his reply within one week. Babar moved the IHC on Wednesday against the university syndicate’s issuance of the show-cause notice. Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman dismissed the petition of the accused and said the petition was not maintainable since the matter had not yet been decided by the QAU syndicate.
The petitioner had named the QAU syndicate, vice chancellor and chairman of inquiry committee as respondents. Talking to Pakistan Today, the accused said the inquiry committee had presented a “biased” report to the syndicate, and was served a show-cause notice over this report.
Last month QAU’s anti-harassment committee recommended the forced retirement of the accused. The case was filed in June when a Department Of Plant Sciences student, Madiha Waheed, lodged a written complaint with the vice chancellor, accusing the controller of examinations of sexually harassing her when she visited him in office. Following the allegation, the VC created a four-member anti-harassment committee to investigate the matter. The committee later presented an inquiry report before the university syndicate and recommended Babar’s forced retirement.