“Don’t you (government) have guts even to order a departmental inquiry and take action against corrupt officials of Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC)?” asked Chief Justice D H Waghela after the state government sought continuous adjournments to initiate action against corrupt officials involved in the recruitment of Group A and Group B officers during 1998, 1999, and 2004.
A division Bench headed by Justice Waghela said, “If you can’t issue a show cause notice against corrupt officials what kind of government is it?”
Justice Waghela was hearing a PIL filed by Khaleel Ahmed and others seeking information on action taken based on a report filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on the alleged irregularities in the selection process of KPSC recruitments. “If someone enters into service by fraud and is being prosecuted, are you willing to continue his service? If you do not want him, there will be action. You are just dilly-dallying here,” the Chief Justice said.
The state government said that the KPSC was yet to submit some more documents regarding the scam. In response, Justice Waghela, said: “Do you really want to take action on this scam? Or you want to continue the same by postponing or passing the buck?” asked Justice Waghela.
Sanjeev Kumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Public Administration and Reforms (DPAR) said the CID report in connection with the 1998 batch requires a scrutiny and they are in process of revising it and preparing a fresh list.
The Bench directed the KPSC to submit all the data pertaining to scaling and moderation before the court on Friday and adjourned the case till then.