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HEC could come down hard on PU plagiarists
LAHORE, Jan 4(Daily Times): The Higher Education Commission
(HEC) is preparing to take stern action against teachers at the Punjab
University Centre for High Energy Physics who were found to have plagiarised
material from foreign journals, HEC executive director Dr Sohail Naqvi said. The HEC will also take notice of the delay in finalising an inquiry
into the matter. Dr Naqvi said that top HEC personnel are scheduled to hold a
meeting with chairman Dr Atta-ur-Rehman on Friday to discuss the issue. He said
necessary action would likely be taken in the next few days.
It was also
learnt that the HEC could remove the names of Prof Haris Rasheed, Prof
Fazl-e-Aleem, Rashid Ahmed, MA Saeed, Maqsood Ahmad and Ayub Faridi (the people
allegedly involved in plagiarism scandal from the HEC's list of approved PhD
supervisors and PhD students.
Moreover, the HEC could ask them to return
all funds they had received from the HEC for the publication of their
dissertations. The HEC has also expressed concern over the delay incurred by the
Punjab University's own inquiry committee in finalising their findings. Sources
said that the delay had tarnished the university's reputation, both at the
national and the international level, since researchers from around the world
were waiting for the results of the inquiry.
The HEC is also likely to
warn PU to expedite the finalisation of the inquiry report, since the people
implicated in the scandal are still working at the university, officials said.
PU sources, on the other hand said that the committee had been unable to reach a
conclusion before Eid, adding that the deadline for the submission of the
inquiry report had expired.
Dr Naqvi said that the HEC had a
zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism, adding that the body was closely monitoring
the progress of the PU inquiry committee. He said further that the plagiarists
could face action under the Removal from Service Ordinance, and cited the
example of a professor at International Islamic University, who was removed from
service in 2000 after being found guilty of plagiarism.
PU Law College
principal and inquiry committee convenor Prof Dr Dil Mohammad said that the committee's inquiry was of a judicial nature and the committee was not
under any compulsion to keep the media or any other body informed about their
progress. He confirmed that inquiries, in such cases, were conducted under the
Punjab Removal from Service Ordinance, adding that the deadline for the
submission of the inquiry report could be extended despite the fact that the
ordinance calls for the submission of a report within 45 days.
Dr Dil
Mohammad further asserted that the PU vice-chancellor had tried to ask the
committee about the updates of their inquiry report but they refused to give him
any details regarding the issue according to the law.
PU registrar Prof
Dr Naeem Khan said that although the committee was unable to finalise its report
before Eid, he would take up the matter after the university reopening on
January 8.
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| Education News | | Updated: 08 Feb, 2012 |
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