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| May 04, 2007 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1428 |
Governor finally takes note of plagiarism
LAHORE, May 3: Governor Khalid Maqbool has directed the Punjab University authorities to apprise him of the much-publicised case of plagiarism committed by five faculty members of the Centre for High Energy Physics (CHEP), its investigation and outcome.
The governor — the chancellor of the university — has reportedly sought a detailed presentation from the Punjab University on receiving a request from the Higher Education Commission for his intervention in the case.
In an intimation sent to the Punjab University vice-chancellor, the governor has asked him to provide soft and hard copies of the plagiarism case, investigation and outcome.
PU registrar Prof Dr Naeem Khan confirmed receiving intimation about the plagiarism case, saying the governor wanted to know about the PU’s position and the HEC’s expectations on the issue.
He said the university had started preparing a presentation for the governor and would provide him soft and hard copies of the case in a few days. “The chancellor office will intimate the university again for formal presentation on the case,” he said.
The Punjab University Syndicate had early last month confirmed plagiarism by five faculty members of the CHEP on the basis of preliminary as well as final inquiry reports.
It decided to ask CHEP director Prof Dr Fazal-i-Aleem to relinquish the directorship of the centre. While taking lenient action against the other four plagiarists — Maqsood Ahmad, Rasheed Ahmad, Sohail Afzal Tahir and Alam Saeed, the syndicate issued them warning with stoppage of two annual increments.
The syndicate’s decision drew criticism from within the university as well as from the Higher Education Commission. Since then the HEC has been crying hoarse against the PU’s decision of letting the plagiarists off the hook.
HEC executive director Dr Sohail Naqvi said the PU was required to remove all the five faculty members after confirmation of plagiarism. He said the commission had asked the PU to immediately sack them under the Removal from Service Ordinance 2000.
As the PU syndicate let the guilty faculty off the hook with mere censuring remarks, Dr Naqvi said the commission had frozen its financial assistance and warned that there would be no funding until it removed the guilty.
The university faculty members also criticised the syndicate’s decision and faculty of science dean Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran had even objected to the inquiry committee’s report and conduct, saying that the report showed bias against him and favoured the plagiarists.
The PU registrar said it was a good opportunity for the university to apprise the governor of its position and remove all the misunderstandings, confusions and wrongly placed opinions once and for all. He said the university had gone through a detailed legal process in investigating the plagiarism case and it was also thoroughly reviewed by the university’s top statutory body — the syndicate.
“We will go to the governor/chancellor in full confidence and apprise him of the case,” he resolved.
He said the HEC had adopted the right track while approaching the governor to discuss the PU’s decision on plagiarism case. He said the governor could have a holistic view of it.
Answering a question, he said the HEC had not so far communicated to the PU that it had frozen its financial assistance for the varsity. He, however, said the university was not heading for any confrontation with the commission as both the institutions were working as partners and promoting quality higher education.
He said the PU was implementing the HEC’s policies in letter and spirit and had established a sub-campus in Gujranwala and planning another in Jhelum district in line with the latter’s policies.
“The HEC, too, is satisfied with the university’s BA/BSc honours programme and semester system rules,” he claimed.
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