Chief Justice slams teacher recruitment at Dhaka University

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha said Dhaka University is not living up to its heritage when recruiting teachers. The Chief Justice made the remark on Thursday during the hearing of a writ filed against the legality of recruiting Tofail Ahmed as a teacher of Dhaka University. The High Court had declared the appointment of Khandker Tofail Ahmed as teacher of the Department of Philosophy at Dhaka University illegal on Wednesday. The Appellate Division upheld the verdict on Thursday. With this verdict, Tofail cannot serve as a teacher of Dhaka University anymore. The Chief Justice, referring to a former vice-chancellor of the university without naming him, said: “Even a VC's recruitment went against everything Dhaka University stands for. Back in the day, students who scored the highest in their departments were the ones recruited to be teachers.” “These days, where are the meritorious students being recruited as teachers? Instead, we see people who do not meet the standards being hired. It is alarming,” added the Chief Justice. Earlier in the day, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam moved an appeal before the Appellate Division to staying the HC order. However, the three-member bench of the SC headed by the Chief Justice turned it down. The High Court had invalidated the recruitment of Tofail Ahmed on July 25 and ordered the concerned authorities to recruit another teacher in that position. The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman delivered the verdict after hearing a writ petition filed by MH Miraj Sourav, who was candidate for the post, challenging legality of the appointment of Tofail. At Dhaka University, the lowest minimum CGPA for SSC and HSC combined is 4.25. Tofail was appointed despite scoring 3.19, which prompted the move to disqualify him.This story was first published on the Bangla Tribune