The Sindh High Court (SHC) sent notices to the Sindh chief secretary and additional officials because the University of Karachi (KU) has not yet conducted student union elections.
A two-member constitutional bench led by Justice Riazat Ali Sahar heard the case on Friday and instructed the university registrar to attend in person on November 12.
The petition was lodged by Ali Sher Muhammad Haris together with other law students, challenging KU's failure to enforce the Sindh Students Union Act that was passed almost four years ago.
Advocate Usman Farooq, representing the petitioners, stated that the law obliges all educational institutions in Sindh to set up student unions and create regulations for elections.
He noted that the University of Karachi Act, 1972, also contains provisions for student unions, yet KU has not drafted election procedures or arranged for voting.
The court was told that the Universities and Boards Department drafted rules and circulated them to universities, including KU, in 2024, but those rules remain unfinalised and unnotified.
Farooq argued that the lengthy postponement has denied students their right to form unions and breached constitutional freedoms of assembly, association and expression.
The petitioners asked the court to order the authorities to finalise the Sindh Students Union Rules, forward them to the provincial cabinet within 30 days and issue an official notification.
They also sought directions for KU to set up an election commission, complete election procedures and hold student union elections.
After the preliminary hearing, the SHC instructed the respondents and the Advocate General of Sindh to file their comments, and ordered the university registrar to appear at the next hearing on November 12.
