Karnataka High Court has ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the recruitment process at the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC). Senior IPS officer Alok Kumar will be in charge of the SIT and will conduct the investigations of the agencies taking charge of the cases.
Justice M Nagaprasanna made the decision to establish the SIT and to hand over all the evidence and materials related to the alleged recruitment irregularities to the new investigation team.
Based on the instructions, the court ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the jurisdictional police to transfer evidence gathered during their investigations to the SIT. This is to ensure that the new team can access the material that has already been gathered in connection with the cases.
The High Court has also directed various government departments, investigation agencies and public authorities concerned with the matter to extend full cooperation to the SIT. The directions are in place for a coordinated investigation, and so the team has access to records, documents and other evidence needed for the probe.
A lot of the court’s order is about the timeline of the investigation. The SIT has to present its investigation report to the court within 100 days of the start of the investigation. The team is also required to submit a progress report every 30 days, so that the court can monitor and track the progress of the investigation.
The decision comes as the KPSC recruitment is in legal limbo. There are criminal cases and petitions before the High Court, and some petitioners want to revoke the cases of the KPSC.
The High Court has decided that the related criminal petitions seeking to quash the alleged offences will be considered only after the SIT has made its investigation report. That means the court will wait until the new team comes up with the findings before considering those petitions for further consideration.
The transfer of the investigation to a dedicated SIT now emphasizes establishing the facts of the alleged recruitment irregularities and how they happened. Now the team needs to look at evidence already gathered by the CID and jurisdictional police and any further investigation it deems necessary.
The 30-day progress reporting requirement is also expected to provide periodic updates on the investigation in the High Court rather than wait until the entire probe is completed.
The Karnataka Public Service Commission is responsible for recruiting government posts in the state, so the integrity of the selection and recruitment process of the agency is an important public business matter. As a result, the High Court’s directions require a structured investigation, an integrated approach to collaboration with the various agencies and a defined reporting schedule.
As Alok Kumar IPS is the SIT’s head, the investigation will now proceed according to the High Court order. The next important aspect will be the SIT’s periodic progress reports and, in the end, its report within the 100-day deadline set by the court.
