The appointment of a chairman and seven members to the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC), initiated by the government about a fortnight ago and the related correspondence between the Governor who is the appointing authority and the State government, brings to focus the tough stance that the head of the State may take, in the days to come, on issues pertaining to administration.
Soon after the receipt of the objections raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party largely to do with the appointment of a Congress leader (V.R. Sudarshan, former Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council), Governor Vajubhai R. Vala returned the file to the government putting in several suggestions. It is another matter that the government lost no time in sending forth a reply but stood by its recommendation over the choice of persons for the coveted positions. The matter is now pending before the Governor and the government which bungled in the first instance in not sending the authenticated copies of the vigilance clearance, as is mandated, thereafter set right the aberration.
It should be noted that the incumbent government has substantially raised the strength of the members of the KPSC from 9 to 13 and this has gone unnoticed in the prevailing confusion arising out of the Governor rejecting the government’s recommendation. Apart from Mr. Sudarshan, the government has recommended the names of Syed Ulfat Hussain, Govindaiah, Raghunandan Ramanna, Ravikumar, Nagabhai Bulla, Michael Simon and Mruthyunjaya.
The Governor is believed to have drawn the attention of the State government to the High Court verdict in a case relating to the appointment of a former legislator of Punjab (Harish Dhanda) as Chairman of the Public Service Commission of that State apart from quoting the recommendations of the second Administrative Reforms Commission over the issue to defend his decision to return the file.
While, at the present juncture, objections have been raised to the appointment of a politician as the head of the KPSC, an active politician (Cabinet Minister) B.L. Gowda was appointed KPSC Chairman by the Ramakrishna Hegde government and when he died while in office, his successor K. Dodde Gowda, too was an active politician (district president of the Janata Party).
In the matter pertaining to the Punjab case wherein the appointment of Mr. Dhanda was struck down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court following a public interest litigation petition and the observations of the Supreme Court in the same case, the argument being put forward is that the present government should have constituted a search committee to identify the eligible persons for appointment to KPSC. The recommendations of the P.C. Hota Committee constituted by the State government with the larger aim of streamlining the functioning of the KPSC have also been largely ignored, particularly with respect to the appointments.
It is imperative therefore for the government of the day to enact a piece of legislation to frame the procedure for the appointment of chairman and members of the KPSC which are presently governed by the provisions of Article 316.
The observations of the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court have to be also factored in at that juncture.
