ISLAMABAD, July 11: The Higher Education Commission has again directed the Punjab University to take strict disciplinary action against the teachers allegedly involved in plagiarism.

Four teachers of the Punjab University’s Centre for High Energy Physics (CHEP) have reportedly been found involved in acts of plagiarism, the HEC says.

The commission has asked the vice-chancellor, Lt-Gen (retired) Arshad Mehmood, to dismiss the teachers involved if the charges of plagiarism are proved.

Rashid Ahmad, Sohail Afzal Tahir, M. Alam Saeed and Maqsood Ahmad, faculty members of the Centre for Higher Energy Physics, are alleged to have copied excerpts of an article by renowned physicist Prof Chris Llewellyn Smith and got it published by their names entitled “Science in Africa” in a South African international publication without acknowledging any reference to the original author.

The HEC has already provided policy guidelines on plagiarism by either students or teachers and stated that intellectual theft would not be tolerated.

It is important to mention here that an earlier case of plagiarism on proof resulted in the resignation of a professor at International Islamic University, Islamabad, on the intervention of the HEC.