- CJP says top court wants right people for right jobs
- Saaf Pani project yet to produce clean water, SC told
LAHORE: Supreme Court on Sunday summoned the vice-chancellor (VC) of Nishtar Medical University (NMU) in Multan as well as members of the search committee who recommended his appointment for the post.
A two-member bench of the top court, while hearing the suo motu notice pertaining to NMU VC’s appointment at SC Lahore registry, issued summons of Dr Zafar Hussain Tanvir and search committee members.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar observed, “We want right people for the right job.”
The CJP also asked Advocate General (AG) of Punjab Shakilur Rehman Khan to tell the court about the qualification of Dr Tanvir who responded that he had a PhD degree in Zoology. Meanwhile, the bench was told that he also had a degree in physiology at which the bench directed the court staff to check the meaning of Physiology.
The bench was told that it was related to Biology. At this, the CJP remarked, “It is not related to medicine,” asking “how he (Dr Tanvir) was appointed as the VC of a medical university?”
“Who are the members of the search committee who gave a recommendation for his appointment?” the CJP asked the AG who said that there were four members of the bench including General (r) Muhammad Akram, Professor Faisal Masood of University of Health Sciences (UHS), Prof Dr Amir Aziz and Eas Muhammad.
Over the name of Prof Masood, the CJP expressed serious concern and said that the court was relying on him but he hadn’t done well in return.
“One may not ride two boats at the same time. He is working with us and also praising others,” the CJP remarked.
However, the bench deferred till the next hearing the matter of the selection of members for the search committee.
“We’ll look into it as the members will appear before the bench,” the CJP said and directed the members of the search committee to appear in person on the next hearing.
It should be noted that Dr Tanvir was appointed as NMU VC last year. In a statement refuting objections during November 2017, he had rebutted his degree was duly approved by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and was also in approval stage of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).
Meanwhile, the CJP also directed the chief secretary to implement his judgment about the necessary equipment to be installed in the emergency units of the public hospitals. The chief secretary said that they had been working on it and all the equipment would be installed in Mayo Hospital’s emergency ward.
The hearing of the case was adjourned till April 14.
On Saturday, the CJP had taken notice of the appointment of Dr Tanvir as vice chancellor of Nishtar Medical University, Multan, who, pointing out that he was not having a valid PhD degree.
He had directed Punjab Heath Secretary Najam Shah to come up with a detailed reply about his appointment and profile, and ordered him to submit a record of all search committees formed to appoint heads of the universities in the province.
SAAF PANI PROJECT YET TO BE STARTED:
Hearing the suo motu case pertaining to the alleged irregularities in appointments in Punjab Saaf Pani Company (PSPC), Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed admitted before the court that not a single drop of clean water had been produced despite the expenditure of Rs4 billion by the Punjab government in Saaf Pani project.
Justice Nisar hinted at the possibility of sending the case to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) with a 15-day deadline for investigation. He summoned the NAB prosecutor general on April 14.
