KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday expressed displeasure against the Sindh government for not submitting its reply in a petition against the Sindh Universities Amendment Bill 2018 and directed it to submit a response urgently.
SHC heard the petition against the Sindh Universities Amendment Bill 2018 and directed that draft of the proposed law should be submitted. Later, the government’s attorney provided a copy of the Sindh Universities Amendment Act to petitioner Pasban-e-Pakistan (PeP), who had already challenged the Sindh Universities Amendment Act (SUAA) 2018.
Pasban-e-Pakistan (PeP) President Altaf Shakoor had challenged the Sindh Universities Amendment Bill 2018 through a constitutional petition (2009/2018).
A two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Agha Faisal heard the petition in which the petitioner requested the court to declare the Sindh Universities Amendment Act null and void.
The petitioner stated that in the past, the Sindh governor was chancellor of the government-run universities in Sindh but then this power was transferred to Sindh chief minister on a political basis through the Act.
He said that the universities in the province may deteriorate just as schools in Sindh are in poor condition. The bill is illegal and it should be declared ‘null and void’, he argued.
The court then adjourned the hearing till 12th December.
The petitioner’s advocate Irfan Aziz was of the opinion that after the passage of the act, the government universities are no longer independent institutions as the government representatives would occupy eight to ten seats in their syndicates. The higher education in Sindh would gravely suffer if the law was not annulled, he argued.
He said that the copy of the Act was not available at any place and it was not available at the website of government, as the government appeared to be keeping it a secret.
The advocate explained that a copy was only provided on Tuesday upon SHC orders.