The Karnataka High Court on Monday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by senior IPS officer Alok Kumar to conduct a fresh probe into the alleged KPSC veterinary recruitment scam, taking the investigation away from the CID and giving the new team 100 days to complete it.
The SIT will comprise Alok Kumar, presently Inspector General of Prisons, as its head, along with Divya Gopinath, Director of the State Forensic Science Laboratory; Deputy Commissioner of Police Anoop Shetty; Superintendent of Police Kushal Chouksey; and Deputy Commissioner of Police Kshama Mishra. The court directed the CID to hand over all documents and records relating to case to the SIT within a week. The state government has also been directed to issue a notification constituting the team and grant it the status of a police station.
“While I do not deem it appropriate to permit the investigation to continue at the hands of the CID or the jurisdictional police, I am equally not persuaded that entrustment to the CBI is the only available recourse,” the court said.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, who passed the order on a batch of petitions, including those filed by BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal, the All Karnataka State Students Association and several successful and unsuccessful candidates, directed the SIT to conduct a fresh investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of 400 Veterinary Officers in Group A. The SIT must complete the investigation within 100 days and submit a progress report to the High Court every 30 days. The court will monitor the investigation periodically. The court also made clear that the fresh investigation would not be restricted to the allegations or people already identified in the case. The High Court directed the SIT to cooperate with the ED in its investigation.
“The investigation shall not be confined to the persons presently named, or the allegations presently made, or the contours presently perceived,” the court said. “The SIT shall extend such cooperation to the ED as well in furtherance of the investigation now directed,” the court said.
