ISLAMABAD    -        The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued notices in a writ petition seeking court’s directions to declare the appointment of vice-chancellor (VC) of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) illegal and unlawful. A single bench of IHC comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani conducted hearing of a petition of a Rawalpindi resident Ozair Salik who moved the IHC praying that the appointment of PIDE’s Vice Chancellor Dr Nadeem Ul Haq may be declared against the rules and directives of the government of Pakistan in the best interest of justice. The petitioner’s counsel inter alia contended that in terms of Section 12, sub-section 4 of the PIDE Act, 2010, appointment of vice chancellor shall be made for a period of five years, whereas, Section 24(1)(a) of the service statutes, 2008 provides age limit of 65 years for chairman, member of regulatory authorities, autonomous bodies in accordance with government policy dated 09.10.2007, issued by the cabinet division, but all the above referred legal requirements have not been adhered to by the appointing authority, while appointing respondent No. 6 (the VC) on the said position. The petitioner said that Dr Nadeem Ul Haq happened to be over 68 years of age on the closing date of the submission of the application for the post. The petitioner stated that the process of recommendation of the search committee was neither transparent nor competitive; rather was illegal and against rules on the subject. The petition maintained that Dr Nadeem Ul Haq was ineligible to be appointed as VC even on the date of advertisement. After hearing the argument, the IHC bench issued pre-admission notice to the respondents and deferred the hearing till January 26, 2023.