Karnataka HC asks state to constitute Civil Services Board within two months

The Karnataka High Court directed the state government to constitute the Civil Services Board (CSB) within two months as per the directions of the Supreme Court in the T S R Subramanian case in 2013.

A division bench headed by Justice Aravind Kumar passed the order on two petitions filed by the state government and IAS officer B Sharat challenging the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) regarding the premature transfer of the officer.

The state government had constituted the CSB on January 31, 2014. But it was back-burnered in a month with the state Cabinet resolving to keep it in abeyance. A Cabinet sub-committee was constituted to advise the government on transfer officers.

The bench said the Cabinet's decision to keep the CSB in abeyance for an indefinite period is without any basis and also contrary to the directions of the apex court. "In other words, directions issued by the court in the T S R Subramanian case, rather than being implemented, has been made to vanish into thin air...," it said.

The bench said it expected the state government to take immediate steps to constitute the CSB at the earliest. “We make it clear that the said constitution of the CSB shall be made expeditiously, at any rate, within an outer limit of two months from the date of receipt of copy of this order."

Meanwhile, on the issue of Sharat’s transfer, the bench said the competent authority (chief minister) shall revisit the order dated September 29, 2020 and pass suitable orders.

Background: After his transfer, Sharat was posted as Managing Director of Karnataka Silk Marketing Board Limited, Bengaluru. He filed a petition before the high court contending that after finding the transfer order was illegal, CAT ought to have quashed the order. The state government, on the other hand, challenged the CAT order directing it to reinstate CSB.