KPSC recruitment row: SC strikes down 2022 law validating appointments of 362 gazetted probationers in Karnataka selected through 2011 exam after irregularities in recruitment process | Bengaluru News

The Supreme Court recently struck down a law from Karnataka that sought to validate the recruitment of 362 gazetted probationers

BENGALURU: In a major setback to Karnataka govt’s attempt to revive a controversial recruitment process, Supreme Court has struck down a 2022 state law that sought to validate the selection and appointment of 362 gazetted probationers recruited through Karnataka Public Service Commission’s (KPSC) 2011 examination.The ruling reopens a contentious recruitment dispute that has dragged on for more than a decade, pitting the claims of candidates who cleared the selection process against concerns over alleged large-scale irregularities in the examination and evaluation of answer scripts.A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Vinod Chandran delivered the judgment on Thursday while hearing a special leave petition filed by Srinivasa T and others, who challenged a Karnataka high court order upholding the legislation.The immediate administrative implications of the verdict, including the position of candidates who received appointment orders under the 2022 law and whether any serving officers will be affected, will depend on the operative directions in Supreme Court’s judgment and subsequent action by the state govt.The controversy dates back to November 3, 2011, when KPSC issued a notification to recruit 362 gazetted probationers to Group A and Group B services.The preliminary examination was held on April 22, 2012, followed by the main examination between December 15, 2012, and January 6, 2013. The selection process culminated in interviews in May 2013.Trouble began after allegations of irregularities surfaced during the selection process.A candidate, Dr Mythri HPS, complained to the then advocate general on May 28, 2013, alleging anomalies in the interview process. The complaint led to a police case and a subsequent investigation by Criminal Investigation Department (CID).The Siddaramaiah-led govt transferred the investigation to CID in June 2014. Acting on an interim investigation report that pointed to serious irregularities, govt cancelled the recruitment process and withdrew the requisition for the posts in August 2014.The decision triggered a prolonged legal battle. Some of the selected candidates approached Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT), which ruled in their favour on October 19, 2016, and directed govt to issue appointment orders.Acting on the tribunal’s decision, the state initiated steps to appoint the selected candidates, with 18 appointment orders issued in March 2017.However, Karnataka high court intervened.In March 2018, it set aside the tribunal’s order and upheld govt’s decision to scrap the recruitment. The high court held that the material in CID’s preliminary report was sufficient to infer that the selection process had been vitiated. It also found that the tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction by directing appointments.In July 2018, the high court rejected a further attempt by some candidates to secure fresh interviews based on the existing eligibility list, observing that the written examination results themselves had been vitiated.Supreme Court subsequently upheld the high court’s decision, leaving the selected candidates without relief under the original recruitment process.

A law to overcome the impasse

The state govt sought to break the deadlock in 2022 by enacting the Karnataka Civil Services (Validation of Selection and Appointment of 2011 Batch Gazetted Probationers) Act.The law, passed in February and notified on March 14, 2022, declared the KPSC selection valid, cancelled the earlier govt orders withdrawing the recruitment, and directed the state to issue appointment orders in accordance with the selection list.The legislation also stipulated that appointments would be subject to the applicable recruitment rules and that candidates would not be entitled to retrospective seniority.It sought to restrict further legal challenges to appointments made under the Act.Govt maintained that the candidates should not be made to suffer for the state’s earlier decisions.Critics, however, questioned the move to revive a selection process that the high court had already found to be tainted by irregularities.The law was challenged before Karnataka high court, which dismissed a public interest litigation on April 21, 2022, holding that the petitioners had not established that the legislation was unconstitutional, illegal or void. Srinivasa T and other petitioners subsequently approached Supreme Court.During the latest proceedings, the petitioners argued that the recruitment had been vitiated by serious irregularities.Their counsel, senior advocate Shyam Divan, had submitted that 566 candidates had secured identical marks and that examination records had subsequently been destroyed.Supreme Court’s reported decision to strike down the validation law now brings the dispute back to the question that has dogged the recruitment from the outset: whether the state could use legislation to give legal effect to appointments arising from a selection process previously invalidated by the courts.The case also raises broader questions about the limits of legislative power when govts seek to reverse the consequences of judicial decisions.The final implications for the 362 candidates, however, must be assessed in light of Supreme Court’s precise operative directions and any subsequent orders issued by the state.This verdict is a massive victory for CID, whose long-standing investigation originally exposed rampant bribery, nepotism, and manipulation in the 2011 Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) batch.

A 15-year recruitment battle