IQBAL HAMEED-UR-RAHMAN, C.J.---Through the instant constitutional petition under Article-199 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, the petitioners have made the following prayer:- "It is, therefore, respectfully prayed that:-- This petition may kindly be allowed. The impugned order dated 21-7-2010 may graciously be declared to have been passed without lawful authority, without jurisdiction and of no legal consequence qua the rights of the petitioners.
(ii) That the respondents may be directed to register the courses opted by the petitioners without retrospective effect and the petitioners may kindly be allowed to undergo the final examination Fall-2010.
(iii) That the petitioners may be allowed to retake/submit all their mid-term exam, assignments, quizzes, lab work that they were previously deprived of on account of impugned order of penalty.
(iv) That since the petitioners were not allowed by respondent No,2 to take the classes hence the requirement of certain percentage of attendance may be exempted as it was beyond the control of the petitioners and respondent No,2 may be directed to refrain from using ifs and buts in allowing the petitioners to continue their studies and other extra-curricular activities as admissible to other students of the university.
2. Precisely, the facts necessary for the adjudication of the lis in hand are that the petitioners are regular students of respondent No, 1/National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NU- FAST). The petitioners appeared in sixth semester of Bachelor of Science (Telecommunication Engineering) but thereafter they were not allowed to attend the classes. On 21-7-2010 an office order was issued by respondent No,2 whereby the petitioners were suspended for one semester i,e, Fall-2010 due to their involvement in unfair practices and violation of the university rules. The petitioners have alleged that the impugned order dated 21-7-2010 is illegal and have prayed that the same be declared as unlawful, without jurisdiction and having no legal effect, hence the instant petition.
3. In pursuant to the notice issued to the respondents, report and parawise comments have been filed on behalf of respondents Nos.1 and 2.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners argued that the impugned order whereby the petitioners have been suspended for one semester i,e, Fall-2010, is a non-speaking order and no specific reason for suspending the petitioners for one semester has been mentioned therein. Learned counsel further argued that an Inquiry Committee was constituted to probe into the matter but in the inquiry report nothing wrong has been attributed to the petitioners. The only allegation which has been surfaced against the petitioners is that their grades were found to be changed, however, the same has not been done by the petitioners as they had already obtained good marks in their previous semesters and change in grades of the petitioners was done by a group of students who had not only changed the grades of the present petitioners but also changed the grades of a number of other students of the University by using "dropcourse-add-course-assign-grade" procedure and even in the inquiry report of the Inquiry Committee no fraud/cheating has been attributed to the petitioners. The petitioners have not been served with any Show-Cause notice and even are not afforded an opportunity of bring heard prior to punishing them which is against the rules of natural justice as well as the principle of audi alteram partem.
5. Conversely, learned counsel for the respondents at the very outset has seriously raised objection that the instant writ petition is not maintainable before this Court inasmuch as the rules of the University are non-statutory, hence, the jurisdiction of this Court under Article-199 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 cannot be invoked. Learned counsel argued with vehemence that the petitioners in connivance with other students managed change of their marks and grades as they were fail in certain subjects of Spring-2010 semester, however, the university detected the fraud at a proper stage and an inquiry was conducted in order to trace out the real culprits. The Inquiry Committee after a thorough probe recommended that Mr. M. Saad iftikhar and Mr. Hasham Saeed (petitioners) should be suspended for two 2011 Hashaam Saeed v.
National University of Islamabad 13 Computer and Emerging Sciences (Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rahman, C J) semesters i,e, Fall-2010 and Spring-2011, however, competent authority, taking lenient view suspended the petitioners for one semester i,e, Fall 2010. The University authorities have proceeded against the petitioners in accordance with the Academic Rules and Regulations. By the dent of above submissions the learned counsel for the respondents prayed for dismissal of the writ petition.
6. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have pondered and mulled over the issue from diverse angles.
7. From the perusal of the record, it is crystal clear that the petitioners allegedly got changed their grades of certain courses on radix, using "drop-course-add-course-assign-grade" procedure and the university authorities on information of the sophisticated fraud/cheating constituted an Inquiry Committee. The Inquiry Committee after thorough probe found the petitioners involved in the fiddle and recommended their suspension for two semesters i,e, Fall-2010 and Spring-2011, however, the competent authority suspended them for one semester i,e, Fall-2010. The role of the petitioners in the scam has been specifically mentioned by the Inquiry Committee in its inquiry report. It has been mentioned by the Inquiry Committee in para-5 (g) (ii) of its report that:-- "Mr. Hashaam Saeed told the IC that since the last few months he knew that the group could access radix, using Mr. Tahir's account and that they could change the grades of courses. Mr. Hasham Saeed confessed that he requested Mr. Usman Khan for the improvement of his grades."
Again in para-6 (d) of the inquiry report, the Inquiry Committee observed that:- "All five (Mr. M. Usman Khan, Mr.Mohsin Munawar, Mr.Mohsin Shafqat, Mr. Saad Iftikhar and Mr. Hashaam Saeed) students have confessed that they were intentionally involved, either directly or indirectly, in the change of grades in their courses and that they were fully aware of what was happening and how it was happening." The petitioners being beneficiaries of change in their grades cannot isolate themselves from the alleged fraud/cheating and their alleged involvement in the scam is fully corroborated by the report of the Inquiry Committee. It is also evident from the perusal of the managed Interim transcripts (result sheets) and genuine transcripts of the petitioners that they were failed in certain subjects, however, they allegedly in a sophisticated manner got changed their grades of certain subject of Spring-2010 semester. Petitioner No,1 got two grades changed from original "F and F" to "C + and B-" while petitioner No,2 got his three grades changed from original "D, C- and D" to "B+, B+ and B+ ".
8. The petitioners being students of the university allegedly managed fraud/cheating in order to get better scoring in their results. They have allegedly committed an abominable act and arc rightly tackled by the university authorities. In educational institutions/Universities which are deemed to be the pillars of ethics, morality, discipline and grace of the society, the students of the institutions should prove themselves to be honest, fair and obedient of the rules and regulations, while the present petitioners adopted sophisticated way of cheating to get success in their semesters which act is highly condemnable and the university authorities have rightly countered them. In educational institutions, if such like corrupt practices are not curbed at the grass root levels, it would certainly give rise to a horrible situation which may cause the collapse of educational institutions and may shatter the sanctity of the educational system and would further create frustration and restlessness among the students as well as in the Society. I am fortified in this context by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education v. Hafiz Ahmad Sufyan (PLD 2004 Supreme Court 25). Moreover, in academic matters the University authorities are the best judges to interpret the Rules and Regulations framed by the university authorities. The Courts are required to avoid to interpret the same unless a case of grave injustice is made out, otherwise it would become difficult for the universities to run their affairs. Reliance in this regard is placed on the case of Muhammad Ilyas v. Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan and another (2005 SCM R 961).
9. In view of the above perspective, instant writ petition is without merits and the same is hereby dismissed.