Islamia College ex-employees challenge pension 'denial'.

PESHAWAR -- Over 260 former staff members of the Islamia College Peshawar (ICP) have moved the Peshawar High Court against the 'denial' of pension by the University of Peshawar (UoP) since August this year.

A petition is jointly filed by a retired ICP associate professor, Sher Haider, and 260 other pensioners seeking the court's directives for the respondents, including the UoP vice-chancellor, to release the monthly pension of all former employees with payments due since the month of August without further delay.

They prayed the court to set aside and declare void a letter sent by the UoP registrar to the vice-chancellor of the Islamia College University Peshawar (ICUP) on July 26 asking him to pay pension of those pensioners who had served in Islamia College Peshawar.

The UoP has stopped the payment of pension to the petitioners insisting that after the establishment of the ICUP, the ICP was no longer a constitute college of the UoP, so the pension for petitioners should be released by the ICUP.

The petitioners, who moved the court through advocate Nazir Ahmad, said they were pensioners of the UoP as they're either retired on attaining the age of superannuation or their family members were the former staff members.

They contended that the UoP consisted of other post graduate departments and under graduate colleges, including ICP and Islamia Collegiate School.

The petitioners said the pensioners were recruited in line with the procedure prescribed by the UoP and they had served the university until reaching the age of superannuation.

They said the terms and conditions of service of the teachers or employees applicable to other employees were also applicable to...