KPSC moves Kerala High Court against prosecution sanction in Planning Board appointment case

The Kerala Public Services Commission (KPSC) has moved the Kerala High Court, seeking to quash the sanction granted by the State government to prosecute its members and staff, along with the first information report registered against them.

The case, filed at the Crime Branch police station in Thiruvananthapuram, concerns alleged malpractices in the evaluation process for the appointment of the Chief (Industry and Infrastructure Division) of the Kerala State Planning Board.

In its petition, the Commission pointed out that the government had granted sanction to investigate the alleged malpractice in the evaluation of answer sheets even though no accused had been named in the FIR.

The KPSC further contended that its members can be removed only by the President of India, and that as an autonomous constitutional body it does not fall under the control of the State government.

The petition also referred to a Vigilance inquiry into the alleged irregularities, which found that a mistake had occurred in the on-screen marking evaluation process during the examination held for the post. Questions from the Economics paper were not allotted to the appropriate evaluators, resulting in their non-assessment.

The Commission maintained that it had taken remedial measures to correct the errors in the rank list and in the evaluation process.