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The Enforcement Directorate informed a special court in Bengaluru that suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission chairman Shivashankarappa Sahukar was planning to construct an expansive commercial and educational complex valued at approximately ₹35 crore in his hometown of Shahpur, Yadgir district. According to submissions made during bail proceedings concerning the recruitment scam, architectural plans had been finalized for the venture on land belonging to Sahukar’s wife. The agency revealed that the proposed development comprised a school, hostel, sports ground, shopping mall, and convention hall, with the caretaker position for the planned school reportedly designated for the parent of a candidate who paid bribes to acquire leaked answer keys for the veterinary doctors’ recruitment test held in January.
Allegations of Lucrative Payoffs for Leaked Exam Answers
Central investigators alleged that Sahukar and commission member B V Geetha orchestrated the leakage of answer keys to nine candidates appearing for the veterinary officers’ recruitment examination on January 9. The agency asserted that illicit payments solicited from candidates ranged between ₹10 lakh and ₹40 lakh per person, with transactions finalized a day prior to the test. Sahukar reportedly received an initial sum of ₹10 lakh from the parent of the third-rank candidate out of an agreed ₹20 lakh deal, while Geetha allegedly obtained ₹20 lakh from the first-rank candidate as part of a ₹40 lakh arrangement. Parallel inquiries by the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department and the Enforcement Directorate indicate that question papers and answer keys were compromised for roughly 20 aspirants, placing Sahukar, Geetha, and examination controller Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar under joint official scrutiny.
Unaccounted Cash Transactions and Document Seizures
The financial probe further identified cash exchanges exceeding ₹10 crore between Sahukar and real estate businessman S P Dayanand outside legitimate banking channels. Investigators placed particular focus on transactions totaling ₹4.99 crore executed between August 2025 and December 2025. Residential searches conducted between August 18 and 24 led to the recovery of a notebook and several loose sheets documenting candidate details alongside corresponding cash payments. The agency submitted that these physical records constitute key evidence linking the broader network of recruitment malpractice directly to illicit monetary flows.
Special Court Reserves Order Amid Arguments on Bail
Legal representatives presented extensive arguments before the special court regarding the bail applications of both officials. Sahukar’s defence maintained that he qualified for bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act because he had not individually received crime proceeds exceeding the statutory limit of ₹1 crore. The prosecution countered that statutory thresholds must be weighed against total corruption across the entire examination framework rather than isolated instances, a figure determinable upon the submission of the prosecution complaint. Geetha’s counsel sought leniency based on her gender, but the agency opposed this by emphasizing her background as a non-practising advocate and former Lokayukta prosecutor who acted with full awareness of her conduct. Following the arguments, the court reserved its order, even as the Karnataka High Court reconstituted a Special Investigation Team headed by an Additional Director General of Police to work alongside central agencies ahead of the CID chargesheet deadline on November 26.
