Aisha Bawany Trust officials refuse to reopen school despite court order

KARACHI: Scores of students are present outside the Aisha Bawany Government College after officials of the trust, which operates the institute, refused to open the premises despite a court order.  

The Sindh High Court on Saturday had ordered the reopening of the college after suspending the order of a lower court that had directed to seal it on the trust's plea.

As first-year students reached the college for their first day of classes, officials of Aisha Bawany Trust refused to open the gate. When government officials, including the colleges' director, reached the site, they were asked to produce the court order directing for the opening of the premises. However, the officials failed to provide a copy of the stay order. The incident also resulted in a scuffle between officials of the trust and education department. 

When approached for comment, Sindh Education Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar vowed to have the college opened within an hour, saying the police will be used in case the trust does not open the school. 

Sindh Chief Minister, taking notice of the incident, ordered for the immediate opening of the school. He said the educational activities of the student should not suffer. 

Meanwhile, the trustees have had the school gate welded from the inside. 

Later, advocate general (AG) Sindh wrote a letter to the chief secretary and IG, stating that the orders of the court need to be implemented and thus the school should be reopened. 

The AG also approached the SHC to take ownership of the school. Submitting a petition in the court, the AG termed the present trust a mafia. He pleaded that a new trust should be formed and till then, the school and college should be run under the SHC's guidance. 

Ongoing tussle 

The government claims the trustees who allegedly own the school want to use it for commercial purposes and thus approached a lower court to grant a stay on educational activity.

However, the college administration approached the high court against the closing of the city's oldest educational institutes. 

On Saturday, too, students protested outside the college as it was locked shut.