The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday restrained the State government from making an appointment to the post of chairperson and members of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) until further orders in view of absence of guidelines.
A Division Bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, passed the interim order during the hearing of a PIL petition filed by social activist Abraham T.J.
The petitioner had questioned the State’s initiation to fill up the posts of chairman and members of the KPSC in the absence of guidelines or rules in the background of allegations faced by some of the former and present KPSC chairpersons and members.
Earlier, State Advocate-General Ravivarma Kumar pointed out that there were no guidelines for appointing the chairperson and members of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the State government had written to the Centre on the issue of framing common guidelines.
The Bench, however, indicated that it would adjourn the hearing by a month to enable the State to get instructions from the Centre and till then there should not be any appointment to the KPSC. The Bench also suggested that it would be better for the State to evolve a set of guidelines for making appointments to these posts so that they can become a model for the Union government.
But, the A-G requested the court allow it to go ahead with the present appointment process as the KPSC has the task of selection of candidates to various jobs in the government service.
However, the Bench issued the direction stating that during the pendency of the writ petition, there shall be no appointment to the posts of KPSC chairman or members while adjourning further hearing by a month.
