Karnataka KPSC Scam: CM DK Shivakumar Questions High Court SIT Order As Government Explores Shutting Down Recruitment Body

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government is miffed over the Karnataka High Court decision to name the officers to be part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) scam during recruitment to the post of the Veterinary doctors.

At the same time, the government is also exploring the legal options to close down the KPSC, a Constitutional body, which is always mired with controversies whenever the recruitment has taken place during the recent past.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar expressed his displeasure over the Karnataka High Court naming the police officers who should be probing the scam and directing the State government to issue a notification with regard to the court order.

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``If the Court is not happy with the way the investigation is being conducted, they are well within their rights to ask the government to form an SIT or even monitor the present investigation or call for the records. I am not sure if the court can name a set of police officers and ask them to conduct the investigation. This infringes the right of the government and the choice of officers should have been left to us. I received a number of calls, even from Delhi over the issue. I am taking legal opinion on if the courts have the right to name the officers,'' Shivakumar said.

Stating that he was not happy with the way KPSC was conducting the recruitment on behalf of the State government, Shivakumar said that the government was even contemplating shutting the KPSC down.

``It is a Constitutional body and they enjoy the immunity provided to the President of India, Judges and other Constitutional custodians. We trust few people and appoint them to the KPSC. If the officials and appointed members collude together and start looting the candidates, how can we tolerate it? It is the question of the future of the students. We are consulting the legal experts to explore if the KPSC can be shut down,'' Shivakumar added.

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At the moment, the CID is investigating the KPSC scam and even the Directorate of Enforcement has raided most of the KPSC members and the IAS officer involved in leaking the question paper. Apart from Veterinary doctors recruitments, discrepancies have been noticed even during earlier recruitment of Assistant Executive Engineers to the RDPR department. The CID has presently traced ₹ 1.5  crore money trail belonging to IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar. 

The controversy erupted after the Karnataka High Court on Monday refused to hand over the investigation to the CBI and directed investigation by a SIT, which would submit the investigation report in 100 days.

Justice M Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court, while hearing a petition filed by MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Akhila Karnataka Students' Association had asked the government to issue a notification forming SIT under Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services Alok Kumar, along with IPS officers Divya V Gopinath, Anup A Shetty, Kushal Chouksey and Kshama Mishra as members.

The Court has directed the CID to handover all the papers pertaining to the investigation to the SIT and directed the SIT to complete the probe in 100 days and submit the progress report periodically.