Karnataka HC vacates stay on KMF recruitment by Gujarat-based agency

The High Court on Thursday vacated the stay on the recruitment for 487 posts of the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) by a Gujarat-based agency.

The court had earlier granted an interim stay on the recruitment process.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice MSG Kamal heard the public interest litigation filed by five milk producing co-operative societies challenging the recruitment.

The court allowed the recruitment process and also the announcement of the final list of candidates subject to the outcome of the PIL. The court had earlier on March 17 gave an interim stay on the recruitment for the various posts.

The PIL filed by the Itapanahallli Milk Producers Co-operative Society Ltd and four other societies from Chikkaballapura had said that the recruitment notification issued by the KMF on October 20, 2022 had appointed Gujarat-based Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) as the examination agency.

The exams were held on December 18, 2022 and results were announced on January 25, 2023.

The PIL alleged that there were protests against the proposed merger of KMF with Gujarat-based AMUL but an agency from Anand, which is also the headquarters of Amul, was chosen for the recruitment process though it did not have prior experience in such recruitment.

It was claimed that as per the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Rules ( Rule 18), the written test should comprise of 200 marks including Kannada language.

The examination agency should, therefore, be from within the State to have expertise in Kannada. The petition also challenged the marks of the candidates being announced before the interview process.