BENGALURU: A day after the police filed an FIR against former Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar’s daughter Suma for submitting a fake income certificate to claim 3B quota for a government job, Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Saturday mooted the idea of a constitutional amendment to scrap both the KPSC and Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT).
“If you ask me, if it were up to me, I would dissolve KPSC and bring new laws or an Act. But people say it cannot be done as it’s a constitutional body. Who makes the laws?
We, the legislators. If everyone decides, at the Central or State level, a decision can be taken,” he told reporters. “This is a case of a fence grazing the field. The situation is not in our hands. Here are two issues and if I am left to deal with them, I would scrap both KAT and KPSC,” he said.
‘Institutional cleansing is necessary’
Since KPSC is a constitutional body, the government has to see how this can be legally tackled, Home Minister Priyank Kharge added. “Institutional cleansing is necessary.
Playing with the future of the youth is not right. You saw how thousands of youth gathered in Hubballi-Dharwad recently without any specific leader. They took to the streets voluntarily. Look at the recent NEET and CBSE exam issues, can we ignore these,” he asked.
“The case is fresh as the FIR was registered just yesterday (Friday). I need to verify the facts and cannot comment without looking at the documents. When it comes to the future of our youth, the chief minister has been very clear that recruitment must continue and such malpractice will not be tolerated,” he elaborated.
On the state government’s jurisdiction and the governor’s role in removing the chairman from a constitutional post, he noted, “The allegation is about a fake income certificate, which falls under our jurisdiction. You are right that it is a constitutional body and we cannot directly remove him and it is up to the Governor. Our responsibility is to provide evidence.”