Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Monday has declared the notification on the appointment of the Balochistan University of Health and Management Sciences (BUHMS) Vice-Chancellor as of no legal effect.
A division bench of the BHC comprising Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Mr. Justice Abdul Hameed Baloch passed the judgment on a petition. The petition filed was challenging the three years extension in the appointment of the BUHMS Vice-Chancellor.
The court ordered that a notification issued by the Chancellor regarding the extension in the appointment of VC BUHMS on 1/8/2021 is declared void and illegal. The bench has directed the Governor Balochistan to initiate the process of selection of the Vice-Chancellor as per the provisions of the 2017 act.
The bench disposed of the petition and directed that the appointments in the university shall be made as per the advertisement published in a local daily on 17/11/2021 strictly on merit by the new Vice- Chancellor of BUHMS.
The petitioners pleaded that the second notification regarding the extension of appointment of Dr. Naqeebullah Achakzai as the VC BUHMS was a violation of merit. It may be mentioned here that former Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai had appointed Surgeon Naqeebullah Achakzai as the VC BUHMS for a term of three years after the establishment of the university in 2017.
The bench thus observed that person-specific laws cannot be promulgated since they encourage nepotism. Former Governor, Amnaullah Yaseenzai had extended the appointment of Mr. Achakzai for another three years.
It is to mention that BUHMS was established as Balochistan’s first medical university in 2017, during the former Chief Minister, Dr. Malik Baloch led government.