ISLAMABAD, April 4: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has constituted a 3-member committee to investigate the failure of the Punjab University for not taking action against its faculty members involved in plagiarism.

The committee headed by the Vice-Chancellor of the Quaid-i- Azam University, Dr Qasim Jan, (QAU) will submit its report within two weeks which will be sent to Punjab Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Khalid Maqbool who is also Chancellor of the Punjab University for necessary action, an official close to the development said.

Other two members of the committee would be nominated in a couple of days. The HEC’s ‘ethics’ committee’s report will also be sent to President Gen Pervez Musharraf in his capacity as chairmen of the vice-chancellors committee to ensure that the guilty teachers are removed from service, the official said.

The HEC has also stopped funding the PU with immediate effect and even a couple of PC-Is submitted by the university to the HEC for the funding purposes have been slashed.

HEC Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman has demanded sacking of the faculty members who have copied research articles and reproduced them in their names without giving reference to the original authors, until then the HEC would not release even a single penny to the university.

The syndicate, the highest decision-making body of the PU has decided that since there were no any policy guidelines on plagiarism, hence, it could not take strict action against the plagiarists.

Whereas, the HEC chairman argues that all over the world whenever an academic was found in such kind of cheating, he/she was simply fired from service.

When asked the official confirmed that the HEC under its ordinance had the mandate to set up a committee to evaluate any public sector university’s performance and suggest necessary actions, which was not considered intrusion into the autonomy of a university.

Above all, the official said, the HEC was a degree- recognition authority and if satisfied in a given case could refuse to accept degree of a public as well a private sector university.

The HEC is fully determined to teach a lesson to the plagiarists and set an example for rest of the higher education institutions.

In response to a query the official said, a powerful lobby within the PU was trying to save these faculty members, however, the HEC would not accept any thing less than removing them from service.