Student allowed to take part in Int'l Olympiad

LAHORE - The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to ensure participation of an A-Level student in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2009, Germany, who was dropped at the eleventh hour from a group of six selected Pakistani students.
Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman issued this order while allowing a writ petition filed by the student Haseeb-ul-Hassan Zahid.
Petitioner’s counsel Miss Sadia Khalid submitted that the petitioner being a student of A-Level appeared in the IQ test and International Science Talent Contest held in 2008 and also qualified achieving the 22nd place in the ranking among the 52 best Pakistani students.
She further informed the court that these 52 students were selected for the IMO after a lengthy process of examination and the petitioner qualified in all the tests obtaining the required marks.
Thereafter, a National Mathematics Olympiad was organised in the country and 28 students were short-listed who were called for the second training camp. During the camp, 18 students were able to retain their places while only 14 candidates were able to pass through the third round, she added.
Petitioner’s counsel further said later on, the selected 14 students represented Pakistan in Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad in which Haseeb (petitioner) got third position.
The counsel said that after the final selection of six students, their registration for IMO was finalised and their passports, visas and even tickets were confirmed, as they were got registered with IMO-2009 to be held in Germany.
She pointed that out in order to further train the selected contestants, a training programme was initiated in which the petitioner and five other students were to improve their skills but surprisingly the petitioner was informed on June 27, 2009 by the programme director that he had been dropped owing to some disciplinary grounds.
The counsel pleaded that the petitioner was neither charge sheeted nor any explanation was ever sought from him. Therefore, the action of the respondents at the belated stage was against the law and all principles of natural justice.