Kerala HC reserves order to invite KPSC to prosecute for Planning Board exam ‘irregularities’

High Court of Kerala | Photo credit: FILE

The Kerala High Court has reserved orders on a Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) petition challenging the prosecution sanction granted in connection with alleged irregularities in the Planning Board’s investigation.

Justice A. Badharudeen orally observed that the alleged irregularities in the appointment were disheartening for the hardworking candidates. The KPSC approached the court seeking cancellation of the sanction granted by the government to prosecute the commission’s employees and the FIRs registered in connection with the alleged irregularities at the crime police station.

The Commission argued that the state had no power to appoint or remove its members and that the power was vested in the President of India. According to the Prevention of Corruption Act, the sanction of prosecuting a public official was imposed on the authority responsible for his removal from office. It argued that the government had erred in ordering an inquiry into the alleged irregularities without first obtaining the approval of the authority concerned.

Director General of Public Prosecutions T. Asaf Ali said the state had received more than 180 complaints against the commission, three of which led to the registration of police cases. The state claimed that the commission took 300 days to respond to an application filed by other candidates under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Commission replied that this delay was due to a related case pending in the Administrative Court. In this regard, the court orally inquired whether the delay in responding to the RTI requests should have prevented the alleged malpractices from coming to light.

The evaluation process of the inquiry conducted to appoint the Chief (Industrial and Infrastructure Division) in the Kerala State Planning Board led to the allegations. Questions 9 to 14 in the “Economics” section were not assigned to the appropriate assessors, resulting in their non-assessment. The commission claimed the error was a “computer glitch” and said it had taken steps to correct the errors found.

Published – 02 Nov 2026 21:11 IST