As the fate of controversial selection of 362 candidates for Group A and B in the gazetted probationers recruitment in 2011 hangs in balance, 19 legislators across party lines have written to President Ram Nath Kovind to step in to restore justice and uphold Constitutional values by accepting the advice of the KPSC’s appointment order.
Raising the issue of “Constitutional violations in the process of Gazetted Probationers Recruitment 2011”, the legislators have requested the President to withdraw the August 14, 2014, government order that held back the notification of the gazetted probationers recruitment 2011. He has been requested to restore the March 17, 2017, appointment order issued on the advice of the KPSC.
The letter has been signed by 10 MLCs and 9 MLAs from the BJP, Congress and JD(S). The 2011 recruitment process has been marred by allegations of corruption, which led to an inquiry by the CID and subsequently the entire list was quashed by the Karnataka High Court.
“The bureaucrats have not applied seriousness in this case where Constitutional violations by not taking the Governor’s observation and rejecting the advice of the KPSC by not following procedures,” said P.R. Ramesh, Congress MLC, one of the signatories.
They have argued that the Constitutional powers and functions of the State public service commission under Articles 315, 317, 320 and 323, Governor’s discretionary powers under Articles 154, 163 and 167, and the powers and privileges of the House of the Legislature and of the members under Article 194 have been abrogated.
Referring to a Gujarat High Court judgment, they have said that the constitution provides special privilege to state legislatures to protect against any unilateral decision of the State and interference in the functions of KPSC. In 2015, the Governor had also asked the government to ascertain its jurisdiction to prosecute the KPSC chairman, which has been suppressed so far.
Only individual cases
The government’s decision to withdraw the recruitment notification is unconstitutional since the Gazette Probationers Appointment Rules 1997 provides for withdrawal of appointment in individual cases, but not for the entire selection list. The Government Order relied completely on the interim report of the CID and without any prior order or permission from the jurisdictional magistrate. The KPSC advice is final and hence the GO is unconstitutional, the legislators said.
The legislators have also contended that a “fraud” has been committed on the Karnataka High Court by withholding vital documents, including the observations of the Governor. The then Additional Advocate General (AAG) made a false submission before the high court regarding laying of KPSC annual report before the legislature. While the gGovernment presented KPSC’s annual report for 2015 before the legislative assembly in 2017 with a “simple note” on the status of 2011 recruitment, the Additional Advocate General informed the court that the reasons for non acceptance of KPSC advice had been laid before the Legislature in February 2017. “This is far from the truth and contrary to the Chief Minister’s reply during the budget session of 2020,” the letter said.
