BENGALURU: Following state cabinet’s “aid and advice”, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar until further orders from the President of India. Sahukar had been accused of using a fake income certificate to secure a job for his daughter.
The governor’s secretariat said on Tuesday that the suspension was ordered under Article 317(2) of the Constitution.
According to a press release issued by Lok Bhavan, the governor has also directed the senior most member of the KPSC to act as chairman until further orders.
The governor had on July 13 suspended Sahukar, but the Karnataka High Court on August 18 set aside the order on the grounds that the action lacked the “aid and advice of the state cabinet”. On August 21, the cabinet resolved to recommend penal action against Sahukar, deciding to place him under suspension.
The Enforcement Directorate also recently searched multiple locations linked to Sahukar, including his home and office, as part of a probe into the allegations.
Candidates being questioned, seized OMR sheets sent to FSL
Officers attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) searched the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) office near Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday, in connection with the probe into irregularities in the veterinary officers’ recruitment.
The team, led by SP Raghavendra Hegde, searched the KPSC office, questioned some KPSC staff and also went through documents pertaining to the veterinary officers’ recruitment posts.
CID had issued notices to all 329 candidates who appeared for the veterinary officer examinations to appear before investigating officers for questioning. The officers are in the process of questioning the candidates and their statements are being recorded. Nearly 658 OMR sheets that were seized from the 329 candidates have already been sent to the Forensics Science Laboratory (FSL) for verification and matching of carbon sheets with the OMR sheets.
It may be recalled that on August 18, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched the KPSC office and 20 other premises linked to it. On July 28, the Karnataka government handed over investigation to the CID. KPSC had declared the final selection list on July 17. After the list was declared, there were allegations that each seat was sold for Rs 80lakh to Rs 1crore.
Two FIRs were registered by Vidhana Soudha police in connection with the exam irregularities, and police arrested two persons. Both the accused were handed over to CID for further questioning.
ABVP ACTIVISTS DETAINED WHILE PROTESTING
Police chased, dragged and detained several Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists who staged a protest demanding a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in recruitment exams conducted by Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC). Women activists were dragged by male police staff, despite the presence of female personnel. Over 200 ABVP activists protested at Maurya Circle in Gandhinagar and near CM DK Shivakumar’s residence on Kumara Krupa Road on Tuesday.
Denied police permission to protest at Freedom Park, the activists gathered at Maurya Circle and Kumara Krupa Road, and protested by sitting on the road, disrupting traffic. Since ABVP activists started an impromptu protest, it was left to policemen to drag women protesters while detaining and putting them inside buses. When media personnel started filming it, a few policemen tried to block the media and a verbal altercation ensued.