The case came to light after a fellow guest lecturer lodged a complaint, prompting officials to examine the applicant’s documents and a Webex video recording of the online counseling session held on August 1, 2026.
According to the department, the individual applied once as “Chandrappa” for the 2026‑27 academic year, openly stating that he did not possess University Grants Commission (UGC) qualifications, and a second time as “Ravi” claiming to meet UGC eligibility criteria, including a National Eligibility Test (NET) score and a Ph.D. Both applications listed the same Aadhaar number, mobile number and e‑mail address.
During the Webex‑based counseling, the applicant logged in as “Ravi” and was selected for a guest‑lecturer position in Geography at the Government First Grade College in Dharwad, a selection captured on video.
Instead of reporting to the college, the candidate allegedly feared exposure during the document‑verification process. He later asked the department to appoint him to the same vacancy under his non‑UGC alias, “Chandrappa,” after the post remained unfilled.
Commissioner Gopalakrishna H.N. of the Department of Collegiate Education confirmed that the candidate has been disqualified and issued a formal notice demanding a reply within seven days. The commissioner also announced that the department will review other applications for possible duplications.
To prevent similar incidents, the department said it will upgrade its online application system to automatically block duplicate entries that share identical personal identifiers.