Supreme Court Stays Karnataka High Court Order on KPSC Recruitment Probe
The Supreme Court has stayed the Karnataka High Court's directions constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and ordering a fresh investigation into alleged irregularities in the Karnataka Public Service Commission's recruitment of veterinary officers. A bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Vijay Bishnoi issued notice on the Karnataka government's plea challenging the High Court's September 21 decision to constitute an SIT to investigate the recruitment of 400 veterinary officers and related allegations concerning other KPSC recruitments.
The court clarified that the interim stay applied specifically to paragraphs of the High Court judgment dealing with the SIT's constitution and the de novo investigation. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, submitted that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was already investigating the matter and that its probe was nearly complete. He argued there were no specific allegations against the CID officers to justify a fresh investigation and objected to the High Court selecting the SIT's members without seeking the state's suggestions. Sibal also questioned the inclusion of Alok Kumar, Director General and Inspector General of Prisons, referring to a separate CBI probe that, he alleged, had raised questions about the officer's role in phone interception and tapping.
The Supreme Court sought responses from the original petitioners before the High Court by October 12 and directed the state to file an additional affidavit in a sealed cover setting out any objections to the officers appointed to the SIT, allowing it to suggest alternative names for consideration.
