BENGALURU: Shivashankarappa S Sahukar moved the Karnataka High Court challenging his suspension as Chairman of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) by Governor Thawarchand Gehlot over the issue of his daughter’s income certificate.
Sahukar, immediately after his suspension, filed the petition before the High Court. Justice Suraj Govindaraj heard the matter for some time on Tuesday. Senior counsel Arun Shyam, appearing for the petitioner, contended that the Governor’s action is not valid as the same is done before initiation of enquiry by the President of India to be held by the Supreme Court as contemplated under Article 317.
On the other hand, senior advocate Uday Holla, appearing for the Governor, submitted that the petitioner has been suspended in light of the veracity of the allegations.
Thereafter, the court adjourned the hearing to Wednesday while also asking the counsels of both the parties to place the judgments they relied upon to defend their case so that the court can examine whether the power is exercised by the Governor in a proper manner or not.
The daughter of Sahukar, Suma S Sahukar, applied for the post of Group ‘C’ industrial extension officer, and she had taken the benefit under category 3B.
However, it is her case that she applied for a Category 3B certificate under the impression that it was only a caste certificate; however, the income was also reflected in the said certificate, which was noticed by the commission during the verification, and later an issue was raised that the income mentioned in the certificate is less than the actual income of Suma’s father.