Aspiring judge booked for cheating after 'hiding criminal cases'

A man who cleared the district magistrate recruitment examination has been accused of furnishing false information while applying for the post online.

Vidhana Soudha police have taken up a cheating case against Palaksha S S, a resident of Kodagu district, following a complaint from K S Varalakshmi, joint registrar, GOB-I branch, High Court of Karnataka.

On October 10, 2019, the office of the Registrar General had issued a notification to recruit district magistrates. Palaksha was one of the applicants online.

He had answered 'NO' in column 19 to a question 'whether the applicant is/was involved in any civil/criminal/quasi-judicial proceedings in any capacity? If yes, give details'. His application was accepted since he had given the answer ‘no’ to the question. He went on to clear all the exams. On August 14, 2020, the list of selected candidates was posted on the website.

The registrar’s office recently received an anonymous letter stating that Palaksha had civil/criminal cases against him. The registrar’s office issued a show-cause notice to Palaksha, who admitted that he had some cases against him and that he mentioned ‘no’ by mistake in the application.

The recruitment committee decided to take legal action against the candidate. Police are carrying out further investigations.