What happened
On July 14, 2026, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission Chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar and recommended a Supreme Court inquiry under Article 317(1), after allegations that Sahukar used his position to get both his daughters selected as Industrial Extension Officers in a KPSC recruitment drive he was overseeing. One daughter reportedly obtained an income and caste certificate declaring an annual family income of just ₹40,000 to claim OBC reservation benefits, including the creamy-layer exemption — despite a March 2002 state government order that specifically bars a sitting PSC chairman's children from claiming backward-classes quota. Sahukar neither recused himself from the recruitment process nor disclosed the conflict of interest, according to the Governor's office. It's the first time in KPSC's history a sitting chairman has been suspended under this constitutional provision.