Bengaluru: The state High Court refused to vacate the stay granted on the appointment of Group A and B gazetted probationers selected by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) in 2011. The puzzle took one more twist with the HC ruling on April 21.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice S K Mukherjee and Justice P S Dinesh Kumar, decided to vacate the stay initially but refused to do so after being informed of the CID investigation into the job scam. The bench raised serious apprehensions over the appointment of candidates by the tainted selectors.
The 2011 batch candidates have challenged the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) order which directed the government to go ahead with the appointment of candidates to 362 posts. They have questioned the decision of the government to go ahead with the appointments based on KAT order, despite large scale irregularities in the selection process, in which KPSC members were involved.
The petitioners have questioned the state government’s earlier stand which had conducted a CID investigation into the matter and found mass malpractice in the selection process. The candidates including the ones given appointments have questioned the government decision over blindly following KAT orders.
“It is peculiar that instead of supporting its own order dated August 14, 2014 (government had directed to close the recruitment process), the state wants to issue appointments in terms of the order of the Tribunal”, the bench said in the order and refused to vacate the stay granted on the appointment.
