Supreme Court directs HEC to close all illegal campuses of universities

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been directed by the Supreme Court (SC) to close all illegitimate university campuses.

The issue concerning the non-issuance of degrees to students from private universities' illegitimate campuses was heard by a three-member court led by Justice Umar Ata Bandial.

The Supreme Court (SC) noted that institutions employed various strategies to provide degrees to students who had graduated from unlawful campuses.

The Supreme Court ordered the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to ensure that its policies be followed. The Supreme Court judge stated that there will be no compromise on the provision of higher education to the future generation.

The federal and provincial governments have been obliged to help the HEC maintain a high-quality, uniform education system.

The Supreme Court questioned whether private institutions can have campuses outside of their buildings. According to the top court, the HEC had underlined those institutions were not entitled to create campuses outside of their grounds and had issued alerts to private universities in this regard.

The apex court stated in its decision that HEC had sought assistance from the authorities responsible to curb the varsities' illicit acts, but that the federal and provincial governments had refused to assist the commission.