Need 8 months to prepare letter seeking prosecution of KPSC scam accused: govt

The state government on Thursday informed the High Court of Karnataka that it needs eight months to gather information to prepare the letter seeking prosecution of the accused in the cash-for-job scam in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).

Additional Advocate General A S Ponnanna submitted to the court that out of the six KPSC officials, only three are holding the office at present. The application for sanction for prosecution of KPSC members has to be placed before the President of India as they are Constitutional functionaries. He said that
the government will take time to follow the procedure as there are many IAS officers too who are being named by the CID.

A division bench comprising Justice H G Ramesh and Justice John Michael Cunha asked the government why it would require eight months to apply for sanction for prosecuting these members.

Ponnanna said that the charge sheet has been filed and thousands of pages have to be translated to be sent as documents along with the application. The government would require time to ensure that there are no loopholes.

The bench later asked the government counsel to show the rules or orders which show the procedure for applying for sanction for prosecution and the time it would take. The bench asked the counsel to produce the details in the next hearing on Tuesday.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by T J Abraham, who has sought directions to the governor to frame guidelines in appointing the chairperson and the members of KPSC.

The petitioner has sought directions to the state government not to propose the names of any persons for the post of chairman and members of KPSC, unless their names are cleared of the charges and allegations made against them.