ORAL ORDER

Petitioner-KPSC is before this Court aggrieved by the proceedings that are initiated by the respondent No.1- Commission upon the complaint filed by the respondent No.2.

2. Case of the petitioner is that by a notification dated 21.11.2015 it had initiated recruitment process in respect of various Group 'A' and 'B' posts including the post of Assistant Director of Land Records in the Department of Survey Settlement and Land Records of the Government of Karnataka. The respondent No.2 had applied in response to the said notification for the post of Assistant Director of Land Records and had also participated in the competitive examination that was held on 10.04.2016 with Role No.3004577.

3. That after the selection process was completed the petitioner -KPSC had published the selection list in which name of the respondent No.2 was not reflected. Respondent No.2 thereafter approached petitioner-KPSC seeking reason for his non-selection to which he was informed that his OMR answer script in respect of General Paper-I had been invalidated on account of non encoding/ marking of question paper booklet series. Thereafter, by way of representation dated 03.12.2016 respondent No.2 had approached the respondent No.1-State Commission for SC/ST alleging that he had been subjected to discrimination and his OMR was deliberately invalidated as he hailed from poor Dalit family. Acting the upon the said representation respondent No.1-Commission initiated the proceedings as per Annexure-H.

4. That objection statements were filed by the petitioner-Karnataka State Public Commission primarily disputing jurisdiction of the respondent No.1-Commission to entertain the matter involving appointment and selection process to the posts. Notwithstanding the said objections, the respondent No.1-Commission proceeded with the matter and had even granted an interim order staying the selection process untill further orders. It is this proceedings which has given raise to the present petition.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner-KPSC reiterating the grounds urged in the memorandum of petition submits that the respondent No.1-Commission is vested with power under Section 8 of the Karnataka State Commission for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes Act, 2002 (for short 'Act') and is authorized to deal only with the issues enumerated thereunder. He submits that said Section 8 does not in any way empower or authorize the respondent No.1-Commission to deal with the matter with regard to the recruitment process or with the service conditions. Thus, he submits that respondent No.1- Commission has exceeded its jurisdiction by proceeding with the matter.

6. Learned counsel for the respondent-authorities would not dispute the fact that respondent No.1- Commission does not have jurisdiction to entertain the dispute with regard to the recruitment/selection process.

7. However, he submits that the Commission can look into the issue pertaining to service conditions.

8. Section 8 of the Act reads as under;

8. Matters Requiring Decisions by the Commission at its Meeting:- The following matters shall be brought up before the Commission at a meeting for consideration and decision:

(i) Any recommendation for an amendment to the Act or to these rules of procedure;

(ii) Matters to be investigated or inquired by the commission directly;

(iii) All the reports that are required to be considered by the Commission as provided in these rules;

(iv) Any matters that a Member may like to bring to the meeting, with the approval of the Chairperson;

(v) Important matters relating to safe guards and development for the welfare and advancement of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

(vi) Any matter that the Chairperson may direct to be placed at a meeting of the Commission".

9. Issue at hand is that the candidature of respondent No.2 had been invalidated at the selection process on account he not encoding/marking the question paper booklet series. As rightly contended by the counsel for the petiti