The Uttarakhand High Court has asked Kumaon University to submit documents related to a lecturer’s appointment made nearly 20 years ago. This comes after a man named Pawan Kumar Mishra filed a petition claiming that he was the one selected for the job in 2005, but someone else with a similar name, Pramod Kumar Mishra  got hired instead.

Both candidates used the short form "P.K. Mishra" in their applications, which may have confused them. While hearing the case, a bench of Chief Justice Guhanathan Narendra and Justice Alok Mehra asked the university to provide all records related to that appointment.

Pawan, who now lives in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, alleged that the hiring was done dishonestly with the help of the then registrar, science dean, head of the physics department, and other staff members.The petition also mentioned that the person who was wrongly appointed is still working as a physics lecturer at the university. 

Pawan Kumar Mishra, the man who claims he was the rightful candidate, said he only found out about the alleged mix-up in November 2024, nearly 20 years later. Shocked by the discovery, he wrote letters to the university’s vice-chancellor and even to the Chief Minister, asking for justice. However, no action was taken, which pushed him to file the case in the High Court.

Pawan said that after interviews held on January 4, 2005, the university’s executive council finalized four names, including his, Pawan Kumar Mishra, son of Inderjit Mishra, on February 28. Out of 58 applicants, all selected candidates except him, who were locals, joined on the same day. “I never got any call or official letter from the university,” he claimed.

Instead of informing him, Pawan said the university issued a corrigendum on March 3, 2005, saying there had been a “typing error” and replaced his name with that of Pramod Kumar Mishra. He alleged that this change was never approved by the university’s executive council. Just over two weeks later, on March 19, Pramod was officially appointed as a lecturer and he is now an associate professor in the same department.

The case, which had been inactive for nearly two decades, was brought back to life by the Uttarakhand High Court on April 15. A bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mehra is now looking into the matter, with the next hearing scheduled for April 30.

 

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