Governor suspends public service commission chief, seeks SC probe into his daughters' appointments

Bengaluru: Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) chairman Shivashankrappa S. Sahukar over allegations that he abused his office to facilitate the appointment of his two daughters to state government posts.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Governor's Secretariat said the suspension was aimed at ensuring a "fair, impartial and uninfluenced investigation" into the allegations. Gehlot has also recommended to President Droupadi Murmu that the matter be referred to the Supreme Court under Article 317(1) of the Constitution for an inquiry into the charges against the KPSC chairman.

The Governor's office said it had received complaints alleging that Sahukar facilitated the illegal selection of his two daughters to the posts of Industrial Extension Officer. It said the KPSC chief neither recused himself nor formally declared a conflict of interest while his daughters participated in the recruitment process.


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According to the statement, one of Sahukar's daughters obtained an income and caste certificate by declaring the family's annual income at Rs 40,000. Preliminary findings indicated that she claimed OBC reservation and creamy layer exemption by suppressing material facts and using a manipulated income declaration despite her father's position as KPSC chairman.

Citing a government order dated March 30, 2002, the Governor's office said children of the chairman of a Public Service Commission are not eligible to claim reservation under the backward classes quota in Karnataka. It alleged that Sahukar and his daughter suppressed material information to secure undue benefits, describing it as "an act that was impossible without administrative oversight or deliberate blindness on the part of the head of the Commission."

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"The income and property returns submitted by the Chairman, along with other facts supported by records, point to the Chairman's involvement with some certainty and amount to misbehaviour in the facts and circumstances of the case," the statement said.

Pending further orders, the Governor has directed the senior-most member of the commission to discharge the functions of the KPSC chairman.