Punjab Governor Latif Khan Khosa rejected a UET professor’s appeal claiming relief against charges of plagiarism.
Dr Sohail Aftab Qureshi, professor at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Electrical Engineering Department had submitted a review petition under section 10-A of Lahore UET’s 1974 Act seeking review petition against the Punishment Order of the syndicate.
The governor expressed shock and disapprobation to find that universities were unable to control the menace of plagiarism, especially amongst members of their faculty. “It is unbecoming and shameful to resort to plagiarism,” Khosa said. The Punjab governor said plagiarism amounted to intellectual dishonesty as it was a deliberate attempt to gain credit for the intellectual efforts of others, adding that the government would not tolerate such dishonest practices. The governor said it was least expected of professors and researchers wielding the coveted position of role models for students to compromise their credibility and integrity by such a demeaning and cheap act such as plagiarism, that maligned the image of the alma mater of thousands of students and adversely affected their intellectual and moral growth.