Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered Higher Education Commission HEC to shut down all illegal sub-campuses of private universities in the country. According to law, private universities are not allowed to open sub-campuses out of their jurisdiction.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court ruled that private universities are not allowed to establish their campuses outside their premises. The case was filed by a petitioner after HEC refused to issue degrees to the students of illegal campuses of private universities. HEC has directed the students and parents through students parents alerts a number of times to not seek admission to illegal campuses. The list of illegal campuses of the private universities may also be found on the HEC website.
Supreme Court has also ordered HEC to issue degrees to the pass-out students of the illegal campuses through a special process. The court also observed that the federal and provincial governments did not extend any cooperation to HEC in this regard. The SC will also order the federal government to amend the law to empower HEC to take action against illegal campuses.
