BENGALURU
Criminal cases will be registered against 249 guest lecturers who allegedly submitted fake or invalid PhD certificates to secure teaching positions in government first grade colleges during the 2025-26 academic year.
The Collegiate Education Department has blacklisted all the accused candidates and removed them from the ongoing recruitment process for 2026-27. Officials said the candidates will also be permanently excluded from future recruitment as they provided false documents while applying for government positions.
The department had recruited around 10,000 guest lecturers through an online counselling process based on details submitted by candidates. As part of a verification drive, colleges were instructed to check the authenticity of academic records, including postgraduate marksheets, NET, K-SET, PhD, MPhil, and other certificates. Committees formed at college and department levels examined the documents and found 249 candidates with fake PhD certificates.
Following the findings, the lecturers were removed from service and their details were uploaded to the Education Management Information System portal. Officials said strict action was necessary because submitting false documents to obtain government employment is a serious offence. The department has also introduced procedures to ensure stronger verification of certificates in future recruitment processes. Authorities stated that the action aims to protect the quality and credibility of higher education institutions across Karnataka.