<p>The Karnataka High Court has done well to quash the appointment of ineligible persons for the posts of gazetted probationers in group A and B by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) in 1998, 1999 and 2004 recruitment batches on the grounds of “rampant corruption.” The KPSC has been directed to prepare a merit list based on marks obtained in the final exam by all persons in each reserved category and ‘re-do’ the process within two months. A division bench comprising justices N Kumar and B Veerappa found that the KPSC had violated rules regarding the ratio in short-listing the candidates for personality test by several times and there were allegations of the then KPSC chairman and members from the interview panels directly contacting candidates for bribes that ranged from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 80 lakh. In a stinging indictment of the selection process, the court said, “(It is) a classic case of educated, highly placed men holding responsible posts in administration betraying the confidence reposed in them,” and there were several instances of “fraud, illegality, irregularity and deceit practised to manipulate the results of the examination.” <br /><br />In order to save candidates who may have been recruited on merit, the court has refrained from setting aside the entire selection and asked KPSC to segregate the ‘tainted’ persons for removal and hold fresh tests for the eligible ones. The state government has been directed to completely revamp the procedure for appointment of the chairman and members as well as the selection process in the KPSC based on the recommendations of the P C Hota committee within two months.<br /><br />The Siddaramaiah government is faced with a Herculean task as the KPSC has become rotten to the core. If the judgment pertains to the three selection processes until 2004, the government was forced to cancel the entire recruitment of 2011 batch after a police investigation found “rampant corruption in the selection of candidates.” The government filed criminal cases against some of the members and the then chairman, Gonal Bhimappa in 2014, but astonishingly, the tainted members continue to be on the panel. If the government is serious about restoring its own credibility and that of the KPSC, it should immediately set up a special court to prosecute all those involved in the scams over the years, withdraw the name of tainted IAS officer T Sham Bhatt proposed for chairmanship and bring about wholesale changes to the KPSC in a transparent manner. <br /></p>
<p>The Karnataka High Court has done well to quash the appointment of ineligible persons for the posts of gazetted probationers in group A and B by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) in 1998, 1999 and 2004 recruitment batches on the grounds of “rampant corruption.” The KPSC has been directed to prepare a merit list based on marks obtained in the final exam by all persons in each reserved category and ‘re-do’ the process within two months. A division bench comprising justices N Kumar and B Veerappa found that the KPSC had violated rules regarding the ratio in short-listing the candidates for personality test by several times and there were allegations of the then KPSC chairman and members from the interview panels directly contacting candidates for bribes that ranged from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 80 lakh. In a stinging indictment of the selection process, the court said, “(It is) a classic case of educated, highly placed men holding responsible posts in administration betraying the confidence reposed in them,” and there were several instances of “fraud, illegality, irregularity and deceit practised to manipulate the results of the examination.” <br /><br />In order to save candidates who may have been recruited on merit, the court has refrained from setting aside the entire selection and asked KPSC to segregate the ‘tainted’ persons for removal and hold fresh tests for the eligible ones. The state government has been directed to completely revamp the procedure for appointment of the chairman and members as well as the selection process in the KPSC based on the recommendations of the P C Hota committee within two months.<br /><br />The Siddaramaiah government is faced with a Herculean task as the KPSC has become rotten to the core. If the judgment pertains to the three selection processes until 2004, the government was forced to cancel the entire recruitment of 2011 batch after a police investigation found “rampant corruption in the selection of candidates.” The government filed criminal cases against some of the members and the then chairman, Gonal Bhimappa in 2014, but astonishingly, the tainted members continue to be on the panel. If the government is serious about restoring its own credibility and that of the KPSC, it should immediately set up a special court to prosecute all those involved in the scams over the years, withdraw the name of tainted IAS officer T Sham Bhatt proposed for chairmanship and bring about wholesale changes to the KPSC in a transparent manner. <br /></p>
