On 26 October last, a High Court bench of Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi and Justice Fatema Anwar stayed for three months the proceedings of PSTU’s assistant professor recruitment notices published on 22 June and 16 August 2026. At the same time, a rule was issued asking why the notices should not be declared without legal authority; the court gave the defendants four weeks to respond to the rule. The order came following a writ petition by a candidate named Dr Md Shamsuzzoha.
The writ alleged that the recruitment conditions were not determined in accordance with UGC’s 2021 ‘Uniform Guidelines to be Followed in Appointment and Promotion of Teachers of Public Universities’. According to UGC guidelines, for the post of assistant professor in agriculture, alongside a master’s degree, there is a requirement of three years of teaching experience as a lecturer (two years with an MPhil, at least one year with a PhD), a minimum CGPA of 3.50 in bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and at least three research papers in recognized journals. But the PSTU notice allowed PhD holders to apply without teaching experience, allowed applications with two research papers, and ignored the CGPA requirement, the writ mentioned.
The three officials whose qualifications have been questioned are Deputy Registrar Zinat Nasrin Sultana, wife of Registrar Professor Jamal Hossain, and Deputy Registrar Rahat Mahmud and Deputy Registrar Hachib Mohammad Tushar, who are close to Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Saiful Islam. They applied for assistant professor posts in the departments of Agronomy, Plant Pathology and Soil Science. Questions exist over several of their master’s degrees, teaching experience and undergraduate results. UGC Chairman Professor Mamun Ahmed said there is no scope for an official to become an assistant professor; action will be taken if the matter comes to the commission’s attention.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Barrister Sanjid Siddique, said the PSTU administration issued the recruitment notice in complete defiance of UGC guidelines; relaxing the conditions of educational qualifications, research publications and teaching experience is completely unlawful. Due to the High Court rule, the university administration cannot now make any appointment to assistant professor posts. If the administration fails to present its statement within the stipulated time, the duration of the stay order may be extended from another three months to one year.
