A Ghaziabad man, who runs online and offline tuition classes for physics, has approached the Uttarakhand High Court, claiming someone else was appointed in his place at Nainital’s Kumaun University, and had been teaching at the varsity in his place for the past 20 years.

The man who approached the court identified himself as Pawan Kumar Mishra.

In his plea, he mentioned that one Pramod Kumar Mishra had been appointed by the varsity on fraudulent basis in 2005, a report with The Times Of India stated.

Pawan grew suspicious of the University’s act after he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number in November 2024, which claimed a deception committed against him.

According to the report, Pawan, in his documents submitted to the court, alleged that the University appointed the wrong person, with the same initials, PK Mishra, in his place and allowed him to continue the job.

He alleged he was selected as the physics lecturer at the university in 2005, but never received the appointment letter. Instead, he claimed, that another person (Pramod Kumar Mishra) had been appointed in his place.

Mishra approached the RTI in this regard, which revealed that the University’s executive council had approved his appointment in February 2005, while interviews for the position were held in January, the same year, the report states.

The RTI application also revealed that a total of 58 candidates had applied for the position, out of which four were selected.

“The executive council recommended my name, Pawan Kumar Mishra, son of Inderjeet Mishra, and the result was published on February 28. The other three joined on the same day, but I was never contacted," the report quoted Pawan as saying.

“The appointment letter was never dispatched to my client," the report quoted Pawan’s lawyer as saying.

On March 3 that same year, a corrigendum was issued citing a “typing error", thus replacing Pawan’s name with that of Pramod, the report claimed.

On March 19, 2005, Pramod joined the University as a lecturer.

According to the report, Pawan, in his application to the court, also alleged athat  botany professor orchestrated the whole move as his daughter later married Pramod. He claimed the move was to help Pramod gain a position at the University.

Meanwhile, the court submitted the matter on April 15 and would take up the hearing on April 30. It also asked the Kumaun University to submit records related to the 2005 faculty appointment.