PESHAWAR, March 25: The Law College teacher who had accused the vice-chancellor of the University of Peshawar (UoP) of plagiarism has been suspended for ‘misconduct’ and an inquiry has been initiated against him. A few weeks back, Mohammad Zubair, an assistant professor at the UoP Law College, had approached the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, alleging that the PhD thesis of the UoP VC, Dr Azmat Hayat Khan, was plagiarised.

He had also requested the authorities concerned to probe the matter and take action against the VC.

Besides initiating a disciplinary action against the complainant teacher for insubordination and violation of rules, the university administration has formed a committee under the VC, which launched an inquiry to assess the entire process of admission to declaration of result of the LLM degree of Mr Zubair, sources told Dawn on condition of anonymity.

The question is whether the HEC will conclude its probe first or the vice chancellor.

The committee tasked to assess the status of Mr Zubair’s LLM degree was asked to submit its report by March 24, the sources said.

When contacted for his version on issues concerning Mr Zubair’s degree, the UoP spokesperson, Akhtar Amin, said that the fact-finding committee had completed its report, but it was confidential. He said the decision on the charge-sheet issued after this probe would be crossed checked by another committee, which would take the final decision on the issue.

In another inquiry, Mr Zubair had been accused of ‘gross misconduct’ under the University of Peshawar Employees Efficiency and Discipline Statutes, 1977 and charged with violation of the university rules.

The teacher has been charged with taking part in political activities and making objectionable speeches.He has also been charged for direct and frequent correspondence with the chancellor and the HEC and delivering misleading information.

To conduct inquiry into all these charges, The UoP has set up a three-member committee under Prof Fazlur Rehman Sethi, director Institute of Physics and Electronics.

When contacted, Dr Sethi said: “I have just been informed that an inquiry committee has been set up against a teacher.”