The Lahore High Court on Tuesday held that the Higher Education Commission — Pakistan’s federal body for higher education standards — does not have the power to deal with service matters of faculty or employees of chartered universities. The finding came as Justice Jawad Hassan heard a petition from a private university that challenged an HEC order said to have issued directions about its affairs, placing HEC university employment questions squarely before the court.
What the university argued
Advocate Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, for the petitioner, told the court the institution is a chartered university created under the Times University Multan Act, 2020. He said its employment matters are governed by the Employees Service Regulations, 2022.
He pointed to Section 10 of the Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002, which sets out HEC’s role in evaluating, improving and promoting higher education and research through policies and guiding principles. Nothing in that law, he argued, allows the commission to interfere in the internal administration or employment matters of a chartered university.
The counsel also said the HEC order under challenge had been passed to comply with directions in an earlier writ petition. Court directions, he argued, cannot give the commission a jurisdiction the statute does not grant.
What the court ordered
Justice Hassan suspended the impugned HEC order. He observed that the university’s argument that the commission had exceeded its jurisdiction “appears to carry considerable weight”.
The judge admitted the petition for regular hearing and issued notices to the respondents for Dec 10. He directed the law officer to seek instructions and ensure that the respondents file a report and parawise comments within four weeks. He also ordered a senior HEC officer familiar with the facts to appear on the next date and explain the commission’s position.
What HEC’s legal role covers
In ordinary terms, the dispute turns on how far university jobs HEC Pakistan may regulate when a university is created by its own charter and runs staff under its own service regulations. The petitioner’s case is that HEC’s mandate is about academic standards and research policy, not hiring, service conditions or other staffing decisions inside a chartered campus.
For readers asking what is HEC in Pakistan in this context: it is the commission charged under the 2002 Ordinance with guiding and improving higher education — a role the university says stops short of running employment inside chartered institutions. The LHC’s Tuesday holding on HEC university employment frames that boundary for this petition as the case moves forward.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Tuesday: The Lahore High Court held that HEC lacks power over service matters of faculty and employees of chartered universities and suspended the contested HEC order.
- Tuesday: The petition was admitted for regular hearing; Justice Hassan noted that the excess-of-jurisdiction argument “appears to carry considerable weight”.
- Within four weeks: Respondents are to file a report and parawise comments; the law officer was told to seek instructions.
- Dec 10: Notices were issued for this date; a senior HEC officer familiar with the facts is to appear and explain the commission’s position.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Lahore High Court ne kaha hai ke HEC chartered universities ke asatiza aur mulazimeen ke service mamlaat nahi dekh sakti. Adalat ne contest kiye gaye HEC order ko suspend kar diya. Petition regular hearing ke liye qabool ho gayi hai aur respondents ko Dec 10 tak notice diya gaya hai. Agle date par HEC ke senior officer ko position clear karni hogi.
