It seems the Karnatak University is going ahead in making appointment of lecturers to its Department of Criminology & Forensic Science Department throwing UGC rules to the winds, and choosing candidates for the post who have a history of cheating.

As if to prove the top varsity authorities are behind the scandal, one of the selected candidates has been provided with the appointment letter on March 20, 2008, at 6:15 pm, well after the working hours.

According to information and documents available with Deccan Herald, none of the three candidates selected for the lecturers posts in the university has any concrete teaching experience, except being guest lecturers in the same department. With their selection, candidates having up to 23 years of teaching service have been sidelined.

The moot point is during the interview for these posts, there were no Criminology experts on the panel.

According to some of the aggrieved candidates, the university has already issued the appointment letter to Dr G S Venumadhav, while appointment letter to Dr Dinesh J Narayankar will be issued shortly. In the case of Dr Riyaz N Managoli, the varsity syndicate, though it selected him on February 8, 2008, has kept his appointment pending citing a prima-facie case of financial misappropriation and has called for probe.

All these three candidates have completed their PhD in the same university. They  were serving as guest lecturers in the Criminology & Forensic Science Department in the university. While pursing their PhD, they were getting university scholarships. There is a rule that when a research scholar is getting scholarship, he/she cannot avail of remuneration from any source.

However, while getting scholarship, Dr Venumadhav was working as a guest lecturer in Women’s Studies Department in the university.

Dr Dinesh Narayankar has been accused of availing of railway concession in the name of other research scholars by allegedly forging signatures.

Moreover, Dr Narayankar, while applying for the guest leturership, had claimed he had participated in 42 national seminars. But while applying for the lecturer’s post, he had claimed he had participated in 19 national seminars.

Dr Managoli, while applying for the university lecturer's post, had claimed he was a recipient of the Government of India Fellowship. But the Bureau of Police Research & Development of the Union Home Ministry, which provided the fellowship, had withdrawn the same on September 17, 2003, stating unsatisfactory progress of his research work.

Though many complaints were given to the university authorities in this regard, no action was initiated against them. Considering these selections, the aggrieved candidates have now decided to petition Governor Rameshwar Thakur, Chief Secretary, Human Resource Development secretary, and the Karnataka Lokayukta.

They are determined to get justice at any cost.