PHC restrains KP govt from selling varsities land

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued a stay order against the possible sale of land of public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and sought reply from the provincial government.

A two-member bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Wiqar Ahmad while hearing a writ petition also halted any sale of land of the government-run universities.

Gohar Rahman Khattak represented petitioner Syed Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha, the provincial president of the Pakistan People’s Party, while another petitioner Daras Khan advocate also appeared in the case. Additional Advocate General Naumanul Haq Kakakhel represented the provincial government.

The petitioners’ lawyers informed the court that over 400 kanals of land were acquired in Mardan between 2009 and 2012 for the University of Engineering and Technology Mardan, Agricultural University Mardan Campus, and Bacha Khan Medical College.

However, they pleaded that there had been reports in the media that the provincial government was planning to sell the land of these universities, and the officials concerned of these educational institutions were being pressurised to revise the original master plan.

The lawyers said that several universities had not yet appointed vice-chancellors and were being run without the qualified VCs while many universities in the province were also facing financial difficulties.

“On the one hand, the provincial government is planning to sell the land of public universities, and on the other hand, steps are being taken to merge several universities,” a lawyer argued.

He said that the government did not have the authority to sell the land of universities, adding that land in question already had buildings constructed for these institutions, and thousands of acres had been acquired for educational purposes.

The lawyers argued that instead of reducing its expenses, the government was attempting to sell the land of public universities. In a previous hearing, the court had asked for a response from the provincial government, but no reply had been submitted to date.

Additional advocate general informed the court that no such order or decision has been made yet.

Petitioner’s lawyer Gohar Rahman maintained that there was a syndicate meeting at the Mardan university on September 12, and the court should issue a stay order to prevent the sale of the land.

The AAG requested that no stay order be issued as the provincial government had not yet made any such decision, and they would submit a response at the next hearing.

Upon this, the chief justice said that there should be no issue if the provincial government was not selling the land.

After argument, the bench issued a stay order restraining the provincial government from selling the university land and sought a response from the provincial government at the next hearing.