<p>The high court on Friday passed an interim order directing the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) not to publish the selection list relating to 487 posts in various cadres, if already not published.</p>.<p>A division bench headed by Justice B Veerappa passed the interim order on the PIL filed by Itapanahalli Milk Producer Co-operative Society Ltd and four other societies from Chikkaballapur district.</p>.<p>The petition stated that KMF had issued a direct recruitment notification on October 20, 2022, calling for 487 posts in various cadres. The petition said that despite protests against the proposed merger of KMF with AMUL, a Gujarat-based Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) was chosen as the examination agency. The examinations were held on December 18, 2022, and the results were declared on January 25, 2023.</p>.<p>Senior advocate D R Ravishankar, appearing for the petitioners, said the agency has no prior expertise in conducting such examinations. He said the main grievance of the petitioners is that the marks obtained by the candidates could not have been published before the interview. This is contrary to the apex court judgement in Harikirat Singh Ghuman case wherein it was held that marks obtained in writing should not be published before the selection (interview).</p>.<p>The petition stated that in terms of rule 18 of the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Rules, 1960, the written test should carry 200 marks consisting of Kannada Language and other subjects as such the examination authority should be selected within the state to know the local language Kannada in order to set the exam paper and key answers.</p>.<p>"It is rather surprising that IRMA, which does not have the Kannada subject expertise, is selected to be the examination authority rings a bell and poses a million-dollar question to the KMF in the selection of IRMA as examination authority and around Rs 2.5 crore was paid to conduct an examination," the petition stated.</p>
<p>The high court on Friday passed an interim order directing the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) not to publish the selection list relating to 487 posts in various cadres, if already not published.</p>.<p>A division bench headed by Justice B Veerappa passed the interim order on the PIL filed by Itapanahalli Milk Producer Co-operative Society Ltd and four other societies from Chikkaballapur district.</p>.<p>The petition stated that KMF had issued a direct recruitment notification on October 20, 2022, calling for 487 posts in various cadres. The petition said that despite protests against the proposed merger of KMF with AMUL, a Gujarat-based Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) was chosen as the examination agency. The examinations were held on December 18, 2022, and the results were declared on January 25, 2023.</p>.<p>Senior advocate D R Ravishankar, appearing for the petitioners, said the agency has no prior expertise in conducting such examinations. He said the main grievance of the petitioners is that the marks obtained by the candidates could not have been published before the interview. This is contrary to the apex court judgement in Harikirat Singh Ghuman case wherein it was held that marks obtained in writing should not be published before the selection (interview).</p>.<p>The petition stated that in terms of rule 18 of the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Rules, 1960, the written test should carry 200 marks consisting of Kannada Language and other subjects as such the examination authority should be selected within the state to know the local language Kannada in order to set the exam paper and key answers.</p>.<p>"It is rather surprising that IRMA, which does not have the Kannada subject expertise, is selected to be the examination authority rings a bell and poses a million-dollar question to the KMF in the selection of IRMA as examination authority and around Rs 2.5 crore was paid to conduct an examination," the petition stated.</p>
