The state government has ordered an inquiry to look into the allegations that the director of the technical education department had furnished fake documents to mislead the hiring team about his seniority.
Higher education minister CT Ravi has ordered for the probe into the appointment of HU Talwar. He was selected for the post in 2009. Four persons who claim they were senior to Talwar have alleged that he produced fake documents to establish his seniority and it is on the basis of the false impression he created that he got the coveted post.
All the four—Ananda Poojari, ND Prasad, Virupakshappa and GR Krishna Murthy—are officials of the technical education department. They have approached Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, challenging Talwar’s appointment. The case is still pending. However, in the wake of the allegations, higher education minister ordered an inquiry. Confirming this, a senior official of the higher education department said the report would be submitted to the minister soon.
According to documents available with DNA, not only did Talwar make false claims about his seniority, but also the then senior officials of the higher education department supported him. The document show that seniority-wise, Talwar was at number 18 in the list.
A candidate who is senior of Talwar said that in 1997, Talwar had worked as in-charge principal of a government polytechnic institute at Kushtagi. He added that according to the norms, this assignment holds no significance in according seniority.
Another candidate said that in Talwar’s case, his serving as the in-charge principal was given weightage. The candidate said this was not only against the norms, but also robbed the deserving candidates a fair shot at being considered for the post of director.
