Lahore High Court moved against change of names of universities

A petition was lodged in Lahore High Court, contesting the removal of the term "university" from six public sector colleges and requesting their titles be restored to "college". Raheela Murtaza, an MS student at Government Sadiq College for Women (University), filed the petition via Advocate Aftab Mubarik. The issue revolves around the Public Sector Universities (Amendment) Act 2026, published in Punjab Gazette on May 6, 2026, and subsequently notified by the Higher Education Department on Oct 23, 2026, through which the word "university" was struck from the names of six higher education institutions.

The petition argues that the amendment unduly lowered the status of the institutions without consulting key stakeholders like vice chancellors, faculty members, academic bodies and students. It claims this could negatively impact the academic standing, global rankings, research records, international recognition and degree verification of thousands of current and former students.

The change could also create problems for graduates seeking employment, higher education or immigration credential verification, as their degrees would retain the old university names. The petition seeks a court declaration that the amendment is unconstitutional and illegal, particularly in relation to the altered status and nomenclature of the affected universities.