UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Karnataka HC constitutes SIT in KPSC case

Q1. The Special Investigation Team constituted by the Karnataka High Court in September 2026 to probe recruitment irregularities in the Karnataka Public Service Commission is headed by which one of the following officers?

  • A. Divya V. Gopinath, IPS
  • B. Kushal Choksey, IPS
  • C. Alok Kumar, IPS
  • D. Kshama Mishra, IPS

Q2. The batch of petitions on which the Karnataka High Court ordered a court-monitored Special Investigation Team into KPSC recruitment was entertained in the exercise of which constitutional power of a High Court?

  • A. Article 32, which empowers a court to issue writs for the enforcement of fundamental rights
  • B. Article 131, which vests original jurisdiction in disputes involving a State and the Union
  • C. Article 227, which vests superintendence over all courts and tribunals within its territory
  • D. Article 226, which empowers a High Court to issue writs for enforcement of rights and for any other purpose

Q3. A member of a State Public Service Commission may resign office by writing under his hand addressed to which authority, and vacates office on attaining what age?

  • A. The President of India; 65 years
  • B. The Governor of the State; 62 years
  • C. The Governor of the State; 65 years
  • D. The President of India; 62 years

Q4. Before the court-monitored Special Investigation Team was constituted, which agency was probing the KPSC recruitment irregularities and was directed by the Karnataka High Court to hand over all material it had collected?

  • A. The Criminal Investigation Department of the Karnataka State Police
  • B. The Central Bureau of Investigation under the Department of Personnel and Training
  • C. The Enforcement Directorate under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
  • D. The Karnataka Lokayukta Police Wing constituted under the Karnataka Lokayukta Act

Q5. In KPSC's Gazetted Probationer notifications, a separate block of posts is earmarked for the Kalyana Karnataka (Hyderabad-Karnataka) cadre, distinct from the residual parent cadre. This earmarking rests on which of the following?

  • A. A special provision in the Constitution permitting reservation in State services for persons belonging to that region
  • B. A Presidential order under Article 16(4) reserving every State gazetted post arising in that region exclusively for local candidates
  • C. A Finance Commission recommendation treating the entire region as one recruitment unit for all Group A services of the State
  • D. A State enactment permanently exempting candidates from that region from all competitive examination requirements

Q6. In the KPSC Veterinary Officer recruitment case, searches were carried out in 2026 at the Commission's premises and at the residences of its Chairman and a member. Which agency conducted them, and under which law?

  • A. The Central Bureau of Investigation, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
  • B. The Enforcement Directorate, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999
  • C. The Enforcement Directorate, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
  • D. The Income Tax Department, under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988

Q7. The batch of petitions on which the Karnataka High Court ordered the court-monitored SIT concerned, above all, alleged irregularities in the recruitment to which category of posts?

  • A. Industrial Extension Officers
  • B. Gazetted Probationers
  • C. Police Sub-Inspectors
  • D. Veterinary Officers

Q8. Under Article 317 of the Constitution, in which one of the following situations is a member of a Public Service Commission deemed to be guilty of misbehaviour?

  • A. If he is concerned or interested in any contract made by or on behalf of the Government of India or a State Government, otherwise than as a member of an incorporated company
  • B. If he expresses, in any public forum whatsoever, any opinion on any recruitment matter that is pending for consideration before the Commission
  • C. If he holds, at any time after his appointment, any other office under any authority, whether or not that office carries any remuneration
  • D. If he fails to attend every meeting of the Commission that is convened during the course of a financial year

Q9. The Central Bureau of Investigation ordinarily needs the consent of a State Government to take up an investigation within that State. This consent requirement does not apply where the investigation is directed by which one of the following?

  • A. The Central Vigilance Commission exercising superintendence over the CBI in corruption cases
  • B. The Supreme Court or a High Court exercising its constitutional writ jurisdiction
  • C. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs by a notification issued under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946
  • D. A Special Judge appointed to try offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988

Q10. Article 323 requires a State Public Service Commission to present to the Governor an annual report on the work done by it. What is the Governor constitutionally required to do thereafter?

  • A. Lay the report before the State Legislature along with a memorandum explaining any case where the Commission's advice was not accepted, and the reasons for such non-acceptance
  • B. Lay the report before the State Legislature, whose approval is mandatory before any recommendation made by the Commission during that year takes effect
  • C. Refer the report to the Union Public Service Commission for its concurrence, after which the report becomes binding on every department of the State Government
  • D. Forward the report to the President, who shall cause it to be laid before both Houses of Parliament together with the Union Commission's annual report