SC axes Karnataka law validating ‘corrupt’ hiring

Why in the News

The 2011 selection of Karnataka’s gazetted probationers, cancelled by the courts and then validated by a 2022 State law, now stands cancelled for good. A two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court has declared the Karnataka Civil Services (Validation of Selection and Appointment of 2011 Batch Gazetted Probationers) Act, 2022 unconstitutional. It held that a legislature has no power to nullify court judgments.

What is a validating law, and why did this one fail?

1. What it is: A validating law retrospectively makes valid an act a court has struck down. It is lawful only if it cures the defect the court found, like repairing a faulty part rather than overruling the inspector.
2. Why Karnataka passed it: The courts had upheld cancelling the entire 2011 recruitment for 362 Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ posts. The Act sought to validate those selections anyway.
3. The flaw: The Bench held that the Act was enacted “clearly with the intent to countermand”, that is, to cancel, the judgments of the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court.
4. The principle: A legislature cannot sit in appeal over a court. Overruling a judgment directly breaches the separation of powers between the legislature and the judiciary.
5. The takeaway: A legislature may change the law a judgment rests on, but it cannot simply reverse the judgment.

What went wrong in the 2011 recruitment?

1. Scale of the exam: The recruitment drew 1,38,307 applicants for the State’s civil services.
2. CID findings: Two years later, a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inquiry found “gross manipulations” in the process. It called the irregularities in evaluating answer scripts “shockingly disgraceful”.
3. Court’s verdict on the process: The Supreme Court described the recruitment by the Karnataka Public Service Commission as “corrupt” and “blatantly nepotistic“.
4. Shifting State stand: The State government changed its position repeatedly over a decade, swinging between supporting cancellation and enacting the 2022 law. Candidates were caught between “shifting political whims and systemic failure”.

What has the Court ordered?

1. Cancellation upheld: The Court upheld the cancellation of the entire recruitment made under the 2011 notification.
2. Fresh recruitment: The State must notify fresh recruitment for the vacant Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ posts.
3. One-time age relaxation: Untainted appointees, the six appellants and the petitioners before the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal get a one-time age relaxation to sit the new recruitment.
4. Candidates’ long fight: The Bench noted that the six appellants, now over-age, had “relentlessly pursued their cause” to join the Karnataka Civil Services.

Challenges

1. Recurring validation laws: Governments often legislate to protect appointments courts have cancelled, which breeds fresh litigation and delay.
2. Thin rules on commission membership: The Constitution only requires about half the members of a State Public Service Commission (PSC) to have ten years of government service, leaving room for patronage.
3. Opaque evaluation: Manual evaluation of answer scripts without audit trails lets marks be altered undetected.
4. Delay punishes the honest: More than a decade of litigation leaves untainted candidates over-age and posts vacant.

Way Forward

1. Cure the defect, not the verdict: Legislatures should validate an act only after removing the legal flaw the court found.
2. Independent PSC appointments: States should appoint PSC members through a transparent, merit-based search process.
3. Audited evaluation: Use coded answer scripts, scanned evaluation and audit logs so that tampering is traceable.
4. Time-bound fresh recruitment: Karnataka should complete the new recruitment quickly, applying the one-time age relaxation.

Conclusion

The ruling reaffirms that a legislature can change the law but cannot overturn a court’s verdict on a tainted process. How quickly Karnataka completes a clean recruitment, and whether it reforms the Commission that ran the tainted one, is what to watch.

Back2Basics: State Public Service Commission

1. Constitutional body: Article 315 provides a Public Service Commission for each State to recruit for its civil services.
2. Appointment and removal: The Governor appoints the chairman and members, but only the President can remove them (Articles 316 and 317).
3. Functions: Under Article 320, it conducts examinations and advises the government on recruitment, promotions and disciplinary matters.
4. Annual report: It reports yearly to the Governor, and the report goes before the State legislature with reasons for any advice not accepted (Article 323).

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2020] Consider the following statements: 1. The Constitution of India defines its ‘basic structure’ in terms of federalism, secularism, fundamental rights and democracy. 2. The Constitution of India provides for ‘judicial review’ to safeguard the citizens’ liberties and to preserve the ideals on which the Constitution is based. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 ANSWER: (d)”