The Karnataka High Court on Monday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by senior IPS officer Alok Kumar to conduct a fresh probe into the alleged KPSC veterinary recruitment scam, taking the investigation away from the CID and giving the new team 100 days to complete it.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, who passed the order on a batch of petitions, including those filed by BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal, the All Karnataka State Students Association and several successful and unsuccessful candidates, directed the SIT to conduct a fresh investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of 400 Veterinary Officers in Group A.
The SIT will comprise Alok Kumar, presently Inspector General of Prisons, as its head, along with Divya Gopinath, Director of the State Forensic Science Laboratory; Deputy Commissioner of Police Anoop Shetty; Superintendent of Police Kushal Chouksey; and Deputy Commissioner of Police Kshama Mishra.
The court directed the CID to hand over all documents and records relating to case to the SIT within a week. The state government has also been directed to issue a notification constituting the team and grant it the status of a police station.
The SIT must complete the investigation within 100 days and submit a progress report to the High Court every 30 days. The court will monitor the investigation periodically.
{{/usCountry}}The SIT must complete the investigation within 100 days and submit a progress report to the High Court every 30 days. The court will monitor the investigation periodically.
{{/usCountry}}The bench said it did not consider it appropriate for the investigation to continue with the CID or the jurisdictional police, but also declined to entrust the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“While I do not deem it appropriate to permit the investigation to continue at the hands of the CID or the jurisdictional police, I am equally not persuaded that entrustment to the CBI is the only available recourse,” the court said.
“I deem it appropriate to constitute a SIT comprising senior and experienced officers to undertake the investigation,” it added.
The court also made clear that the fresh investigation would not be restricted to the allegations or people already identified in the case. “The investigation shall not be confined to the persons presently named, or the allegations presently made, or the contours presently perceived,” the court said.
“If the evidence gathered reveals involvement of any other persons, offences or transactions with nexus to the subject matter of investigation, the SIT shall follow the evidence wherever it leads in accordance with law,” it added.
The case came to the police after more than 50 candidates approached the Vidhana Soudha police following the release of the veterinary officer recruitment examination results. Audio conversations subsequently surfaced in which middlemen were heard demanding ₹70 lakh to ₹80 lakh for each Veterinary Officer post.
The government had entrusted the investigation to the CID after the allegations emerged. The Enforcement Directorate is separately investigating the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The High Court directed the SIT to cooperate with the ED in its investigation. “The SIT shall extend such cooperation to the ED as well in furtherance of the investigation now directed,” the court said.
Several people have been questioned in the case, including former KPSC president Shivashankarappa Sahukar and candidates. IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar, who was the KPSC examination controller, and Basavaraj Kannale, identified as a major kingpin and middleman, have been arrested and are being questioned.