Bengaluru: The high court Monday reconstituted the special investigation team (SIT) probing cases related to the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment scam, appointing senior IPS officer R Hitendra, ADGP (law and order), as its head in place of Alok Kumar, DGP (prisons).
The separation, the court said, must be complete in letter and spirit.
The court also directed that no officer associated with the earlier investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), irrespective of rank or designation, be inducted into the SIT’s assisting team. The SIT will be free to select its own supporting officers and personnel, provided they have had no association with the earlier CID probe.
Alok Kumar and Divya Gopinath had been named in the SIT constituted under the court’s Sept 21 order. Govt has been directed to extend full cooperation and provide SIT with all necessary infrastructure, personnel, logistical and technical support, and other resources required to complete the investigation expeditiously, in accordance with the court’s Oct 29 order. The ED has also been directed to continue placing progress reports on its investigation before the court from time to time, in keeping with the HC’s Sept 21 order. The latest directions are to be read in conjunction with and as a continuation of the orders passed on Sept 21 and Oct 29.
Justice M Nagaprasanna said the changes were made after considering the names suggested by the state govt, objections raised by the petitioners, and the need to ensure an investigation that was demonstrably independent. Taking note of the Enforcement Directorate’s ongoing investigation following the registration of an Enforcement Case Information Report, the court said both agencies must proceed simultaneously, independently and in cooperation, within their respective statutory jurisdictions. The SIT and ED investigations should complement each other in the pursuit of truth rather than become competing exercises over jurisdiction, the judge said.
The reconstitution, the judge observed, must mark the beginning of a fresh investigation that inspires confidence and remains free from institutional or external influence. The objective was not merely to change the officers handling the probe but to ensure that the investigation itself was conducted with renewed independence. The court also directed that SIT members should not be transferred out of Bengaluru from their present assignments in a manner that would hamper their work while investigation was under way, unless the court granted prior permission. Continuity of investigating officers was as important as their independence, Justice Nagaprasanna observed.
All other earlier directions will remain in force and must be complied with, the judge added.