PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday restrained governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shah Farman from interference with the administration of the Edwards College, Peshawar.
The order was issued by a division bench of Peshawar High Court (PHC) comprising Justice Ibrahim Khan and Justice Muhammad Ayub restraining Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from interference in college administration.
A notice was also issued to the provincial government to submit a reply to the petition until the next hearing.
The order was issued by the PHCs’ bench while hearing a writ petition filed by Bishop Humphry Sarfarz Peter, the Bishop of Peshawar, through his lawyer Khalid Mehmood advocate. The lawyer while arguing in the case said that KP governor on March 6, 2019, has issued a notice to call a meeting of Board of governors of the college on 8 March.
The lawyer added that such notification is against the high court verdict issued on March 23, 2016, declaring the Edwards College a non-government institution and free from the influence of the governor. The lawyer maintained that as an independent entity, the college is free to run by its own administration without any political interference from the governor or other government officials.
“The governor, still, illegally interferes in college administrative affairs,” the lawyer told the court. The bench after hearing the arguments of the lawyer directed the governor to stop interference in the affair of the college. The Peshawar high court division bench also issued a notice to the provincial government to submit reply in the case till next hearing.
Governor Shah Farman has called a meeting of the Edwards College Board of directors after students of the college staged protest against the principal accusing him of corruption. They demanded the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to take action against the principal. It was for the first time in the history of Edwards college when the students have come to the roads and accused the college administration of corruption.
