KAS recruitment ‘bribery’: Karnataka PSC member faces arrest after bail plea rejected

A member of the Karnataka Public Service Commission, against whom a lookout circular has been issued, now faces arrest in connection with an alleged illegal gratification deal over the selection of a candidate as a KAS officer after a court rejected an advance bail plea on Thursday.

KPSC member Dr Shantha Hosamani, who was on the interview panel, has been elusive over the past few weeks since the Bengaluru police registered a case against her on August 7. The state police told the special court for CID cases that investigations revealed that she was in touch with a candidate who had appeared in the interview round of the now-stalled Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) selection process on May 8.

The CID, however, stated it is yet to ascertain whether the KPSC member collected any bribes to facilitate the selection of the candidate. The interview was conducted for the much-coveted 384 posts of Gazetted Probationers (KAS officers).

The Karnataka High Court on July 31 stayed the final selection list for the 384 KAS posts on the basis of allegations of irregularities. Hosamani is alleged to have obtained pecuniary benefits for selecting the candidate identified as Mamita B from the Hyderabad Karnataka region, the Crime Investigation Department of the state police said.

Mamita's name figured at 49th position out of 222 persons shortlisted from the Hyderabad Karnataka region for KAS interviews. She is reportedly among 74 candidates selected from the region. Preliminary investigations revealed that the KPSC member and the candidate were in telephonic contact after the interview in violation of norms.

Hosamani has been under watch after the All Karnataka State Students Association filed a complaint alleging that the KAS selection process was compromised by the KPSC member. Over two lakh aspirants wrote the preliminary exams for the 384 KAS posts (including 74 posts for the Hyderabad Karnataka region) in 2024, and 1,152 (including 222 for the H-K region) were called for the interview round in May.

The KAS posts are regarded as highly coveted as the officers enjoy significant administrative powers from the start itself. According to the police, Mamita "paid or agreed to pay illegal gratification amount in connection with the intention of securing post in KAS recruitment" after her interview.

Though the CID had summoned Hosamani and the candidate for interrogation, only Mamita made herself available for investigations. This prompted the CID to issue lookout notices last week and later conduct searches on the properties of the accused.

The court on Thursday stated that the granting of advance bail would undermine confidence in the judiciary in the light of the prima facie evidence presented by the CID in the case. The police had told the court that it had found evidence of telephonic communication between Hosamani and Mamita, who are accused of offences punishable under the Karnataka Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Corruption & Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act 2023.

The CID has stated that Mamita established contact with the KPSC member after her interview. As per the rules of the KPSC, the "members should not conduct the interview of their relatives, and they should not have contact with candidates." The CID has stated it is yet to fully analyse "electronic documents, the CDR, WhatsApp messages, E-mail and other digital documents".

The counsel for the KPSC member argued that the interview panels for the KAS selections comprised four members each and that the candidates were assigned to each panel by drawing lots at 9 am on the day of the interview and "there is no possibility to manipulate" to select a particular panel based on the candidates or vice versa.