A week after Secretary of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) K.S. Lathakumari, who had opposed the selection of the head of legal cell (HLC), went on leave, the selection was approved at a meeting held here on Tuesday.
A majority of the 11 members, including the Chairman, resolved to appoint retired judge S.B. Vastradmath as the HLC at a meeting which was also attended by Rakesh Kumar, who has been appointed as in-charge Secretary after Ms. Lathakumari went on leave. She had opposed the selection stating that the process was not in order and had even issued a second notification inviting fresh applications. The second notification that fixed the last date for applying as February 17 had already attracted around 10 applications. The second notification was withdrawn on Tuesday.
The tug of war between the Secretary, and Chairman Shivashankarappa Sahukar, and six other members, over the recruitment of the HLC, had brought the commission activities to a standstill for nearly two months. They had stayed away from meetings since December first week stating that unless the HLC identified by the three-member committee headed by the Chairman was approved they would not attend the meetings. Ms. Lathakumari in a written communication to the government had accused the KPSC Chairman of forcing the earlier HLC out of his post as he had refused to give his opinion to foot the personal legal fee of the Chairman on the KPSC account. She had also informed the government that the selection process of the new HLC was not transparent and had accused the Chairman of selecting the person that he wants.
Meanwhile, as the stalemate existed for nearly two months, the last two meetings — during which nine lists of successful candidates to fill 666 posts were approved — were chaired by the senior-most member Ronald Anil Fernandes and the remaining members since the others had given in writing that they would not attend the meetings.
While efforts were made to convince the Secretary to tone down the opposition to the HLC appointment, KPSC sources said that she refused to back out. Though the notification appointing Mr. Rakesh Kumar stated that Ms. Lathakumari had gone on leave, sources aware of the development said she was, in fact, asked to go on leave.
Commission sources said that the Tuesday’s meeting also resolved to ratify the lists and notifications approved in meetings on January 31 and February 6.
