BANGALORE: A former IPS officer’s son is accused of providing a false caste certificate to make it to the provisional KPSC list. This is the latest alleged irregularity to surface in the scam-tainted 2011 Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment process.
Retired additional director general of police K A Hafeez’s son K Arif Hafeez was allegedly selected under the C-1 quota, but he falls in the general category. KAS aspirant Rahamatbi Makabul Ahmed Nadaf has claimed that she missed out because of the “false” certificate and also because she was given fewer marks in her interview.
Rahamatbi got 991.5 marks in the mains, but was accorded only 70 marks in the personality test. Arif Hafeez, who had got 973 in the mains, was given 145 in the interview and he made it to the list of selected candidates under C-1 category, she said.
Her uncle Nazeer M Nadaf told Express that Rahamatbi has filed her objections with the KPSC and is also planning to approach the High Court for justice.
Last week, the Criminal Investigation Department had filed a chargesheet before the Lokayukta special court, with charges of conspiracy, corruption and malpractices against former KPSC chairman Gonal Bheemappa and others.
“Retired IPS officer K S Hafeez’s name is Kazi Abdul Hafeez. Kazi, a sub-caste in the Muslim religion, is an upper caste like a judge. According to records, the sub-caste Darvesh, under which his son Arif Hafeez got selected, covers those who beg from house to house. We raised objections but have got no response,” Nadaf said.
“I have also got a reply under RTI that states that the Yelahanka tahsildar has issued this false caste certificate to Hafeez’s son. Even in the 2B category, no one has scored more than Rahamatbi and no one has been given less than 145 in the personality test,’’ he added.
Interestingly, the CID chargesheet lists out calls made to Arif Hafeez by the accused. These call details are sub-titled as “unholy nexus” in the CID report.
The report says that one Gopikrishna (personal assistant to Gonal Bheemapa) had made six calls to Arif Hafeez, while Bheemappa himself had called him once. This apart, KPSC member Parshwanath and his PA called had called Arif Hafeez twice.
Before filing the chargesheet, the CID had submitted an interim report to the state government recommending revaluation of the mains examination.
Following this, the government had in its October 2013 letter asked the KPSC to hold revaluation and fresh interviews. However, KPSC wrote back in December 2013 stating that there was no provision to hold revaluation and fresh interviews.
The KPSC later published a provisional list of candidates selected for 362 Gazetted Probationer Group A and B posts from the scam-hit 2011 batch. When contacted, retired IPS officer K A Hafeez refused to comment on the allegations.
BANGALORE: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday demanded that the State government cancel the appointments of candidates recruited through the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) in 1998, 1999 and 2004.
The case, which is pending before the High Court, relates to alleged irregularities in the exams and the recruitment process, with candidates being selected, not
on the basis of merit, but on the influence of power and money.
Ravi Krishna Reddy, state working committee member of AAP, told reporters, “The government is not only protecting the corrupt candidates by not taking action against them, but is also denying opportunities to the deserving candidates.”
He added that according to a fact-finding committee report, about 60 per cent of the people in various departments recruited through KPSC were involved in irregularities.
“The 1998 exams saw 292 out of 386 candidates involved in irregularities, 1999 saw 95 out of 191 and 2004 saw 97 cases among the 152 candidates. At present, these candidates are holding top positions in the government,” he said.
Two candidates, who had been selected but were denied seats, also joined in. Jaishankar of Chikmagalur district, who wrote in the exam in 1988-1999, said, “Out of the 405 candidates selected, 206 candidates were declared ineligible for recruitment. The exams were all rigged by candidates who had money and power.”