Report : ANI :
MULTAN — The eligibility of Dr. Tahir Ashraf for appointment as professor at Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) has been questioned by Prof. Dr. Omer Farooq Zain, Dean of Arts and Social Sciences, who sought intervention by the Punjab Governor in a representation dated June 10, 2025.
According to the representation, the advertised post required 15 years of teaching or research experience. Prof. Zain disputed the inclusion of two years of MPhil research experience in the calculation of Dr. Ashraf’s qualifying experience.
The representation states that Dr. Ashraf’s total assessed experience was calculated at 16 years, four months and 27 days after the disputed period was included. According to the Dean’s calculation, excluding those two years would bring the total down to 14 years, four months and 27 days.
The record, however, also contains a scrutiny committee decision declaring Dr. Ashraf eligible for appointment on the relevant Basic Pay Scale. The same scrutiny record carries Prof. Zain’s handwritten dissent, recording his position that Dr. Ashraf was not eligible for appointment as professor.
The documents further include minutes of a BZU Syndicate meeting held on March 25, 2023, during which the issue of counting MPhil/MS research experience was discussed in the context of changes to the minimum qualification requirements for lecturers.
According to the minutes, the Syndicate agreed to seek clarification from Quaid-i-Azam University, the University of the Punjab and the Islamia University of Bahawalpur regarding the practice followed by those institutions in relation to such research experience.
Prof. Zain subsequently questioned whether clarification should instead be obtained from the Higher Education Commission (HEC), and maintained that further consideration of the matter should await clarification of the disputed issue.
The representation also refers to a Lahore High Court direction requiring the Vice Chancellor to decide Dr. Ashraf’s grievance on merit and in accordance with law. The court order itself was not included in the documents available for review, and therefore its precise terms could not be independently assessed.
The available documents do not establish a subsequent final determination resolving the dispute. They instead record competing positions: the scrutiny committee’s decision finding the candidate eligible and the Dean’s recorded objection concerning the counting of MPhil research experience.
The matter therefore remains subject to the applicable HEC rules, BZU’s governing decisions and any subsequent determination by the competent authority.
