Dehradun: Uttarakhand high court has stayed a notice issued by a committee of Uttarakhand Open University in a harassment case involving a woman and a senior faculty member, after the petitioner challenged it before the court. A division bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, also issued a notice to the other party involved, seeking resolution of the matter.

Bhupen Singh, president of Uttarakhand Open University Teachers’ Association, had approached HC, alleging widespread irregularities in the university’s teacher recruitment process. He said the then vice-chancellor ignored mandatory rules, including 30% reservation for women from Uttarakhand.

Singh said the university appointed ineligible candidates who had been previously rejected by the screening committee. When he raised the issue with the Governor, he was accused of harassment by one of the ineligible candidates through a letter addressed to the Governor and the Scheduled Castes Commission.

The university formed a committee in 2023 to look into the allegations. However, the committee did not issue any show-cause notice to Singh until recently, when it summoned him to present his case. Singh then moved HC, challenging the timing and legality of the notice. The bench stayed the notice and directed that a response be sought from the woman who had made the allegation.