BENGALURU: Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar has accused the Commission secretary of misusing his powers by inviting applications to appoint the legal cell head on a contract basis when the Commission had already finalized the process.
In his letter, Sahukar said that the legal cell head can be appointed for two years, and a retired judge can also be appointed. As it is a contract post, no rules were framed by the Commission. However, the Commission itself framed rules and appointed the eligible candidate.
Explaining this, Sahukar said the earlier legal cell head’s tenure was coming to an end, and the secretary had been directed to issue a notification for the recruitment of a new legal cell chief. As per a resolution at a meeting in October 2023, a notification was issued on November 15, 2023, calling for applications within 15 days. Though the last date was November 28, the secretary, without the consent of the Commission, extended the date to December 30, 2023.
As the date extension was done without consent, the Commission chairman and other members decided to consider applications received on or before November 28. As many as 14 people had applied, and members and the chairman conducted interviews and sent recommendations of the selected candidates to the secretary, who rejected them, though he did not have the power to do so.
The secretary withdrew the notification when the Commission called for applications, and called for fresh applications while the process of interview and the name of the candidate was finalised. While the Commission is autonomous, the secretary is a government appointee and has to work according to the Commission, the chairman mentioned.
The chairman also appealed to DPAR and chief secretary to intervene.