Selections in the Selectors (PSCs)

The Supreme Court on November 12, 2010 gave the nod for the removal of suspended Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) Chairman and its suspended members for their failure to “maintain the required standards of integrity and rectitude in performance of their constitutional duties”. A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia ruled that “There exist justifiable grounds” for their removal and “resultantly, the reference, made by the President of India to this court, is answered in the affirmative”. The other members of the Bench were Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar.
The Constitution mandates that as nearly as may be one-half of the members of every Public Service Commission (PSC) shall be persons who at the dates of their respective appointments have held office for at least ten years either under the Government of India or under the Government of a State. Further, the power vests with the President or the Governor as the case may be to determine the number of members of the Commission and their condition of service. However, the State Public Service Commissions, of the late, have become dumping grounds for pliable retired bureaucrats and the henchmen of the Chief Minister who can piously do his bidding.
The Selection of the Chairman and the Members of the PSC should be made by the President/Governor on the recommendation of a Committee comprising the Prime Minister/Chief Minister, Chief Justice of India/Chief Justice of the High Court of the State and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha/Vidhan Sabha from a panel of outstanding retired civil servants and others with impeccable integrity as the case may be. The Article 319 enumerating certain prohibitions as to the holding of offices by the Ex-Chairman or Ex-Members of the Commission should be amended to bar such Chairman or Members to engage in active politics or to occupy a political post even in an honorary capacity after demitting the office.