Picked by BJP, protected by Congress: Face of Karnataka job scams stayed on despite red flags

In Karnataka’s bitter bipolar politics, there’s hardly anything the BJP and the Congress agree on. That’s why the story of Shivashankarappa S Sahukar is unique — and a test case of alleged corruption amid political patronage cutting across parties.

This should not have come as a surprise, though — they were part of a pattern.

Over the past seven years since Sahukar was appointed to the KPSC as a member in 2019 and chairman in 2021 by the BJP government, a string of alleged irregularities has marked his tenure, an investigation by The Indian Express has found. Irregularities that were red-flagged by top officials within KPSC, at least four times between 2019 and this year — a period that straddles Karnataka governments under the BJP and the Congress.

Sahukar, 61, was clearly protected species.

In fact, his appointment process itself was fraught and the investigation reveals details of how an informal money lender rose to head one of the state’s most powerful constitutional bodies tasked with recruiting for coveted government jobs.

Handpicked by BJP in 2019 despite red flags

On August 31, 2019, just 36 days after BJP’s B S Yediyurappa took oath as chief minister for the fourth time, Sahukar was appointed under the “official” category to the KPSC along with two “non-official” members.

Sahukar, however, was subsequently shifted to the “non-official” category following objections that he had never held government office — “official” members of a Public Service Commission need to have held government office for at least 10 years. While non-official and official members enjoy identical status, the latter are usually relied upon to steer the organisation based on administrative expertise.

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Red flags were raised over Sahukar’s professional record, too.

According to KPSC records, he graduated in 1988 with a degree in agricultural engineering from Raichur College of Agricultural Engineering, where he worked as a supervisor between January 1989 and August 1991.

After a five-year gap, he took up a contractual job in July 1996 as Farm Guidance Instructor in a National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) project in Gulbarga. What these records do not show is that in March 2010, NCUI decided not to extend Sahukar’s contract beyond March 2011 and asked him to “hand over complete charge”, citing performance that was “not found satisfactory” and noting he was “not punctual”.

There are no public records of Sahukar’s subsequent engagements till the KPSC posting. “He did odd jobs and ran an informal money-lending business. But two years in the KPSC made him powerful enough to ensure he became the chairman even before the chair was vacant, so to speak,” said a former KPSC member and ex-colleague of Sahukar.

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The colleague was referring to the State Cabinet decision on March 17, 2021, to appoint Sahukar as KPSC chief on the same day IAS officer Shadakshari Swamy’s tenure at the helm ended on April 3. In contrast, Swamy had been appointed interim chairman on January 10, 2019, over a month after his predecessor retired on December 8, 2018, and confirmed as permanent chairman only on August 17, 2019.

“That (Swamy’s appointment) is the usual process. It takes a few weeks for screening the candidates, etc. But Sahukar’s elevation was immediate,” said a former senior office-bearer of the KPSC.

Sahukar did not respond to phone calls and messages from The Indian Express seeking comment. When contacted, Yediyurappa’s media office said he was not immediately available for comment.

When Cong stepped in with a shield

By the time Congress returned to power and Siddaramaiah took charge as chief minister in May 2023, Sahukar was engaged in a faceoff with IAS officer Vikas Suralkar, the KPSC secretary since July 2022.

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Suralkar had initiated transparency measures, including official social media accounts and more recruitment information on the KPSC website. “The chairman and his supporters among the members strongly resisted these measures. Things came to a head in 2023 when Sahukar started withholding approval on files and bypassing the secretary in holding meetings,” said a KPSC official who witnessed the standoff.

In June 2023, the KPSC chairman wrote to the new Chief Minister against the secretary, followed by a formal complaint to the Chief Secretary in August. Responding to a show-cause notice, Suralkar submitted a report to the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, flagging systemic loopholes.

In his September 13 letter, reviewed by The Indian Express, Suralkar said “departures from the rules” had resulted in “misuse of authority by the Chairperson and injustice to meritorious candidates”. He enclosed documents detailing “deficiencies/ irregularities” in the interview process and sought immediate action.

The next day, the Congress government removed Suralkar as KPSC secretary. When contacted, Suralkar declined to comment.

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IAS officer Latha Kumari succeeded Suralkar in September 2023. In December, she refused to approve the appointment of KPSC’s Head of Legal Cell, selected by a three-member panel headed by Sahukar, citing lack of transparency.

In response, Sahukar and five other commission members did not attend key meetings and gave written notice that they would not sign files until their candidate was appointed, records show.

The standoff stalled recruitment for more than 2,000 government jobs. Finally, in a letter to the Governor via the Chief Secretary on January 25, 2024, Kumari sought government action against Sahukar for alleged “misuse of authority”.

The Indian Express reviewed the letter in which Kumari wrote that meetings were repeatedly postponed, stalling appointments and leaving files without orders or reasoned rejections. She accused the chairman of directing changes to eligibility conditions and recruitment requirements, bypassing transparency checks, handpicking interview panels, and dictating how tenders and contracts were handled.

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Officials worked under pressure and fear, hesitant to flag proposals they considered legally impermissible, Kumari wrote, recommending action under Article 317 of the Constitution against chairman Sahukar and four commission members.

According to sources in the KPSC and the government, Kumari was told during a meeting with a top Karnataka official on February 6, 2024: withdraw her letter or go on leave.

The next day, she was placed on “paid leave” and a replacement appointed. On February 13, the KPSC approved Sahukar’s chosen legal-cell candidate and withdrew Kumari’s notification inviting fresh applications.

When contacted, Latha Kumari said she did not want to discuss matters related to KPSC with the media. Siddaramaiah’s media office said he declined to comment.

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How a proposed SIT probe got buried

Another flashpoint between Kumari and Sahukar was the selection of 24 Assistant Executive Engineers (AEE). After the examination in July 2023 and interviews in September, the KPSC received a complaint alleging tampering of answer sheets. While the secretary sought an external probe, sources said, Sahukar ordered an internal inquiry.

As the probe dragged on, the secretary sent the final selection list to the government for appointment, conditional on the commission’s decision pending investigation. The government subsequently appointed 23 candidates with the same condition between June and December 2024.

In February 2025, the internal KPSC probe found 10 candidates guilty of tampering with answer sheets and sought cancellation of their selection. The candidates approached the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal (KSAT) and then the Karnataka High Court.

On March 18, 2025, a bench of Justices Krishna Dixit and Ramachandra Huddar indicated that the court might hand the probe to the CBI. On March 24, 2025, the court considered the government’s proposal to give the investigation to the CID — as recommended by the KPSC probe report — and said it would decide after hearing “all the stakeholders”.

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On April 8, lawyers for the students said they had “absolutely no objection whatsoever” to a CBI probe, asserting that their clients had committed no wrongdoing. The advocate general, however, proposed an SIT and 20 days later, submitted the names of three police officers in a sealed cover. The bench concluded the hearing and reserved its judgment on April 28.

On May 1, Justice Krishna Dixit was transferred to the Orissa High Court. On August 22, 2025, a new bench of Justices S G Pandit and K V Aravind sent the matter back to KSAT without ordering an investigation.

Asked whether the state had brought the proposed SIT probe to the notice of the new High Court bench, the office of Karnataka Advocate General K Shashi Kiran Shetty said in an email: “Yes. The Hon’ble Bench considered it appropriate that a Tribunal constituted for the speedy disposal of recruitment matters must be approached at the first instance, instead of invoking the inherent powers of the Hon’ble High Court.”

A former KPSC member pointed out that “nothing stopped the state from ordering an investigation” on its own. “Whether the students are guilty or being framed, the tampering of OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) answer sheets happened in KPSC custody. A CBI or SIT probe could have exposed who was responsible,” said the former member.