The Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) scam probe is approaching a legally significant 90-day chargesheet deadline amid uncertainty over whether the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) or a proposed special investigation team (SIT) will complete the filing.
The investigation was initially handled by the CID, but its future now depends on the formation of an SIT mandated by the Karnataka High Court and subsequently modified by the Supreme Court. The transition has left the agency responsible for filing the chargesheet as the central question in the case, according to the Times of India report.
Suspended IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar was taken into custody on the night of August 29. Under criminal procedure, if a comprehensive chargesheet is not filed within 90 days of an arrest, an accused becomes eligible to seek default bail. Gangwar and his alleged aide, Basavaraj Kannale, are currently in judicial custody.
A lower court has rejected their bail petitions. The High Court, however, granted Kannale six days of interim bail to visit his newborn daughter. The report did not state that either accused had been granted default bail under the 90-day provision.
The Supreme Court recently modified a High Court directive that had selected specific officers to lead a de novo, or fresh, investigation. The apex court expressed concern about starting the probe entirely afresh, noting that discarding work already completed by the state CID could jeopardise crucial evidence gathered during the earlier investigation.
The court’s intervention has made the continuity of the investigation a central administrative and legal issue. A completely new probe could require investigators to review or rebuild parts of the existing case record, while the pending formation of the SIT has added uncertainty over responsibility for the next formal step.
According to a senior police officer cited in the report, proposed names for the SIT chief have been sent to the High Court. The selection process is therefore still awaiting the court’s consideration, and the report does not identify the officer who will ultimately head the team.
The investigation could face additional delays if the newly recommended names are challenged in court. Any such challenge would come as the 90-day deadline draws closer, leaving the agencies and the courts to manage the overlap between the existing CID investigation, the proposed SIT structure and the statutory consequences of delayed chargesheet filing.
The next decisive steps are the High Court’s consideration of the proposed SIT leadership and the filing of the chargesheet before the 90-day period expires.
