ISLAMABAD: Former Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) vice chancellor Salman D Muhammad illegally appointed 131 employees of various cadres during his tenure, causing a loss of Rs 71 million to the national exchequer. Earlier, the doctoral thesis of Suleman Muhammad was found to be plagiarised. According to the documents available with Daily Times, Salman D Muhammad illegally appointed the employees of various cadres, including lecturers, assistant professors, lab supervisors, programmers. The documents revealed that during his almost two years’ service, the vice chancellor misused his authority and caused a total loss of Rs 71.43 million to the national exchequer. Sources in FUUAST said that Salman D Muhammad took several key decisions without following the prescribed legal procedure. “For finalising new appointments, there are two apex bodies in the university: the Selection Board and the Syndicate. For the selection of gazetted slots, the Selection Board examines all required qualification of the candidate and then forwards the case to the Syndicate for final approval,” sources said. “However, the former vice chancellor did not take in account both apex bodies in many cases. A majority of the appointments were made on favoritism basis by Salman D Muhammad,” another official told Daily Times on the condition of anonymity. According to documents, the illegal appointments were made for Karachi and Islamabad campuses of the university. In the findings of a joint inquiry by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) of Karachi University (KU), the doctoral thesis of Salman D Mohammad in Economics was declared as marred with irregularities and plagiarism. The investigation revealed that within a span of seven months in 2010, Salman D Muhammad was awarded a doctorate degree in Economics by the KU. The inquiry findings said that he was able to get 19 research papers published in ‘international journals’ between 2009 and 2010. Most of these research papers, including others, were found to be plagiarised. On the other hand, confusion continues over who is the vice chancellor at the university. Salman D Muhammad had been appointed as acting vice chancellor when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had restored Dr Zafar Iqbal against the slot of VC. The Senate then restored Dr Altaf against the same slot. However, Dr Iqbal obtained a stay order from court against the Senate decision. Both Dr Zafar Iqbal and Dr Altaf served as vice chancellor in the university. FUUAST Chancellor and President Mamnoon Hussain had removed Dr Iqbal from his position on August 9, 2015 over alleged corruption and favoritism, moral turpitude and misuse of authority. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had also accused Dr Iqbal of these charges. However, the IHC restored Dr Iqbal. So far, the authorities have failed to determine who is the legitimate vice chancellor of FUUAST. When contacted, HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said that the commission was doing its job. “After some complaints, the HEC investigate the doctoral thesis of Salman D Muhammad under prescribed procedure and gave the findings accordingly,” he said. To a question, Dr Ahmed said that commission could not go beyond the authority given to it in the HEC Act. Published in Daily Times, October 20th 2017.