Court orders Unitech to allow suspended student to register

The National Main Stories

A PAPUA New Guinea University of Technology student who has been fighting a court battle against a university council decision on his suspension for three years has been granted an order to register.
Salamat Minala, from Enga, was a third-year lands and survey student in 2016 when he was charged with vandalism and bribery during a students’ protest against the O’Neill Government.
Yesterday, the National Court through Justice Jacinta Murray granted an order to allow Minala in Lae to register this year.
The order stated that Minala conceded two grounds of the judicial review application and consented to the plaintiff’s reliefs and so by consent parties agreed to all the plaintiffs’ reliefs which include:

  • Order in the manner of certiorari to bring into the court and quash the decisions of the university’s students’ disciplinary committee and further the decision of the university appeals committee of council dated Sept 30, 2016.
  • That the order in the manner of mandamus for the third and fourth defendants to allow the plaintiff to enrol for the 2019 academic year to do his third-year studies; and,
  • Legal costs incurred over the period at which this matter was in court be awarded to the plaintiff.

The university, which was represented by Steven Kesna, the principal of Kesna Lawyers, agreed with the order in court on behalf of the university. Minala said the outcome of the court was good news for him because he could now to go to school and complete his degree.