BANGALORE : The delay in filing a First Information Report (FIR) in the CET-2013 scam has helped the accused official get his suspension revoked and land a post in the State Election Commission.
S P Kulkarni, the then administrative officer of the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) who was allegedly involved in the biggest-ever scam in KEA, was busted in January. He is said to have tampered with seat allotment in both medical and engineering colleges.
Following the inquiry report, Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee issued an order suspending Kulkarni and transferred the probe to the CID on February 2. But the CID has not begun its inquiry as no FIR has been filed.
As per the Karnataka Cadre and Service rules, an official’s suspension will be revoked after six months if there is no inquiry or FIR against him/her.
In this case, sources said KEA is blaming the Higher Education Department for the delay in filing an FIR. “We have not received any direction from the department on the FIR and we filed a complaint with Malleswaram police in July-end. But by then, the suspension had been revoked and he (Kulkarni) had been posted to some other department,” said a senior official from KEA’s legal cell.
The examinations authority is said to have received an official communication on filing the FIR from the Higher Education Department on August 24.
Rajneesh Goel, principal secretary to the Higher Education Department, was unavailable for comment.