KAS recruitment ‘bribery’: Karnataka PSC member faces arrest after bail plea rejected

The CID, however, stated it is yet to ascertain whether the KPSC member collected any bribes to facilitate the selection of the candidate.

The interview was conducted for the much-coveted 384 posts of Gazetted Probationers (KAS officers). The Karnataka High Court on July 31 stayed the final selection list for the 384 KAS posts on the basis of allegations of irregularities.

Proof of telephonic conversations

Hosamani is alleged to have obtained pecuniary benefits for selecting the candidate identified as Mamita B from the Hyderabad Karnataka region, the Crime Investigation Department of the state police said. Mamita’s name figured at 49th position out of 222 persons shortlisted from the Hyderabad Karnataka region for KAS interviews. She is reportedly among 74 candidates selected from the region.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the KPSC member and the candidate were in telephonic contact after the interview in violation of norms.

Hosamani has been under watch after the All Karnataka State Students Association filed a complaint alleging that the KAS selection process was compromised by the KPSC member.

Over two lakh aspirants wrote the preliminary exams for the 384 KAS posts (including 74 posts for the Hyderabad Karnataka region) in 2024, and 1,152 (including 222 for the H-K region) were called for the interview round in May.

The KAS posts are regarded as highly coveted as the officers enjoy significant administrative powers from the start itself.

According to the police, Mamita “paid or agreed to pay illegal gratification amount in connection with the intention of securing post in KAS recruitment” after her interview.

Though the CID had summoned Hosamani and the candidate for interrogation, only Mamita made herself available for investigations. This prompted the CID to issue lookout notices last week and later conduct searches on the properties of the accused.

The court on Thursday stated that the granting of advance bail would undermine confidence in the judiciary in the light of the prima facie evidence presented by the CID in the case.

The police had told the court that it had found evidence of telephonic communication between Hosamani and Mamita, who are accused of offences punishable under the Karnataka Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Corruption & Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act 2023.

The CID has stated that Mamita established contact with the KPSC member after her interview.

As per the rules of the KPSC, the “members should not conduct the interview of their relatives, and they should not have contact with candidates.”

The CID has stated it is yet to fully analyse “electronic documents, the CDR, WhatsApp messages, E-mail and other digital documents”.

KPSC member denies manipulation charges

The counsel for the KPSC member argued that the interview panels for the KAS selections comprised four members each and that the candidates were assigned to each panel by drawing lots at 9 am on the day of the interview and “there is no possibility to manipulate” to select a particular panel based on the candidates or vice versa.

The plea of Mamita is pending hearing for final arguments before the court.

The KPSC is already facing allegations of fraud in the selection process of other posts as well. A parallel investigation by the CID into corruption in the selection of veterinary doctors for 400 vacancies in the state has revealed that the entrance exam process for the veterinarians was compromised by middlemen who obtained leaked versions of the question papers from the KPSC.

According to CID sources, interrogation of a key middleman in the veterinarians recruitment fraud resulted in the finding of exam documents such as copies of admit cards and OMR sheets for a few candidates who wrote the KAS preliminary and main exams in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

In the veterinarians recruitment fraud, the CID had arrested the KPSC controller of exams – the IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, and the key middleman Basavaraj Kannale, who is alleged to have sold leaked question papers to 29 of 329 selected candidates for prices ranging from Rs 35 lakh to Rs 80 lakh.

Taken in conjunction with each other, the recruitments for different state government posts since 2021 — when the current chairman and the member Hosamani were appointed by the then BJP government in the state — appear to be riddled with corrupt practices, CID sources said.