Supreme Court strikes down Karnataka law validating ‘corrupt’ 2011 recruitment

A view of the Supreme Court of India. File

The Supreme Court on Thursday (October 29, 2026) declared unconstitutional a Karnataka State law, which validated the 2011 selection of Gazetted Probationers made through what the court described as a “corrupt” and “blatantly nepotistic” recruitment process conducted by the State Public Service Commission.

A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran held that the Karnataka Civil Services (Validation of Selection and Appointment of 2011 Batch Gazetted Probationers) Act, 2022, was enacted clearly with the intent to countermand the judgments of both the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court. The courts had upheld the decision to cancel the entire 2011 recruitment process for 362 posts of Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ Officers.

“The cancellation having been upheld by the High Court and the Supreme Court, the power does not lie with the legislature to annul the cancellation, even by a legislation, and thus nullify the judgments of the Constitutional courts,” Justice Chandran said.

The court highlighted how the State government, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, constantly changed its position over a decade “depending on the hues and colours in the changing times”. The State had, over the years, swung between supporting the cancellation of the entire recruitment process and enacting the 2022 law, leaving the hapless candidates caught in the crosshairs of shifting political whims and systemic failure.

“When the winds of politics change direction, it is the common man who gets caught in the storm… A recruitment of 2011 is hanging fire still, putting to peril the aspirations of many… Six appellants [represented by senior advocate Shyam Divan] who would be over-aged now have relentlessly pursued their cause in their zeal to join the Karnataka Civil Services,” Justice Chandran observed.

The 2011 recruitment process saw 1,38,307 people apply. Two years later, a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inquiry found “gross manipulations” in the process, and “the irregularities in evaluation of answer scripts were found to be shockingly disgraceful”.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the cancellation of the entire recruitment based on a 2011 notification. It said no equity could be granted to untainted successful candidates, represented by senior advocate Sanjay Nuli, who were selected on the strength of the 2022 Act. The court termed the Act a “stillborn legislation”.

“The lofty ideal stated in the legislation of providing justice to the 2011 Batch Gazetted Probationers falls flat… Having found the Act of 2022 unconstitutional, we cannot but observe that the appointments made pursuant to the tainted recruitment will also come to an end,” the court held.

It directed the Karnataka government to notify the recruitment for the vacant posts in the Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ services in accordance with the existing recruitment rules. Appointed candidates who were not found tainted, the six appellants before the Supreme Court, and the petitioners before the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal would be granted age relaxation to appear in the recruitment process as a one-time opportunity.

If selected, the court said their seniority would only be counted from the date of appointment. They would not be entitled to any back wages or notional appointment from an earlier point of time.