Karnataka KPSC job scam: Sahukar's tenure under scrutiny as second name emerges
A probe into Karnataka's KPSC has uncovered irregularities spanning the tenures of two governments, with a second member's appointment raising fresh questions.
Allegations of job scams at the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) have widened into a broader examination of how the state's recruitment body functioned across two successive governments, with scrutiny centering on chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar and, subsequently, another member.
When the allegations first surfaced two months ago, attention focused on Sahukar, who was accused of compromising the Commission and the office of the Controller of Examinations, which conducts recruitment tests for the state. The alleged irregularities included allowing his daughter to falsify his publicly known income, while touts were said to offer packages involving leaked papers, answer keys and targeted coaching in safe houses.
The recurring nature of the allegations pointed to patronage across the political spectrum that kept Sahukar in place — first as a member and later as chairman. He was handpicked for the KPSC by the BJP in 2019 and, according to the findings, shielded by the Congress government that came to power in Karnataka in 2023.
Investigating his full tenure, going back to 2019, proved difficult because the KPSC's affairs are largely insulated from public and media scrutiny. Former associates and colleagues of Sahukar were reluctant to engage, citing his powerful connections or ongoing cases. Those who spoke described his years as a contract worker with a national cooperative, his termination for non-performance, involvement in informal money lending, and the political links that secured his KPSC post.
A former colleague said Sahukar was initially appointed as an "official KPSC member" despite never having held a government job, and was later reclassified as "non-official". The former colleague argued that no rule permits rectifying an illegal appointment and that the then BJP government should have removed him on that ground.
Sources within the government and the KPSC pointed to a systemic weakness: there is no legal requirement for any minimum qualification to become a PSC member, allowing some members to enter through political connections. Few members were chosen on merit, they said.
Official notes detailing alleged misuse of power, unjustifiable actions pointing to apparent corruption, and action taken against whistleblowers within the KPSC under the Congress government were also accessed. Those actions appeared to stall any push for accountability and reform.
Former KPSC members and officials, lawyers and job candidates described how the recruitment system was allegedly manipulated through withholding marks after exams, fixing interview panels, tampering with tabulation and answer sheets, and leaking papers.
Given the BJP-Congress relay that led to a collapse of institutional safeguards, Sahukar's case appeared unlikely to be the only instance of the Commission being compromised. A second name emerged: Shakuntala Dundigoudar.
Going against the recommendation of a high-powered reforms panel to reduce the KPSC's size and select only full professors when appointing members from academia, then BJP chief minister Basavaraj Bommai expanded the KPSC, creating room for Shakuntala, a schoolteacher from Shiggaon, his Assembly constituency.
The sequence was established: the KPSC was expanded on March 15, 2023; Shakuntala was appointed on March 16; and on April 7, her husband, Shrikant, rejoined the BJP. Political sources in Dharwad said Shrikant's association with Bommai dated back to 2018, when he first joined the BJP. They claimed his business benefited from the association and that he funded Bommai's political campaigns. Shrikant denied the allegations.
His company's annual return showed revenue rising 160 percent — from Rs 25 crore to Rs 62 crore — between FY 2022 and 2023, the year Shakuntala became a KPSC member.
The sequence of events led to her case. In May 2023, Congress leader Siddaramaiah took over from Bommai as chief minister; in 2024, the BJP expelled Shrikant over a bypoll ticket; and in July 2026, the KPSC set up an internal investigation against Sahukar. Shakuntala, by then the most senior member, was picked to lead the probe. On July 28, the investigation was transferred to the CID.