The Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department has sought the state government’s sanction to prosecute IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar in the alleged leak of questions for a Karnataka Public Service Commission recruitment examination, a step that could determine whether the agency can file its chargesheet before a crucial custody deadline.
Gangwar, a 2016-batch Karnataka cadre officer who served as KPSC Controller of Exams from January 2024 to March 2026, was arrested on August 29 over allegations that he leaked questions for the veterinary doctors’ recruitment examination held in January this year. Investigators found that the questions were allegedly provided to 10 candidates, who later appeared among the top 20 in the examination’s rank list, according to the CID investigation cited by The Indian Express.
The CID’s request followed the Supreme Court’s October 13 indication that chargesheets could be filed against those arrested by the agency. The court had earlier allowed a Special Investigation Team to be formed after the Karnataka High Court ordered a de novo investigation on September 21. The Supreme Court subsequently modified that direction, stating that a fresh investigation was not warranted without findings of bias, malice or serious investigative lapses.
“A de novo investigation has serious consequences and a direction in that regard must be issued in rare circumstances, where there are allegations of bias/malice or serious investigational lapses, including removal or manipulation of evidence. No such finding has been recorded in the impugned order,” the Supreme Court bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi said in its October 13 order, as reported by The Indian Express.
The prosecution sanction is being sought under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which requires approval when state officers are alleged to have been directly involved in crimes, according to CID police sources. Under the same legal framework, the sanction is deemed to have been granted if the government does not decide the request within 120 days.
The case also involves Basvaraj Kannale, described as a middleman who allegedly worked with Gangwar to identify aspirants willing to pay between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 40 lakh for examination questions in advance. Kannale was arrested on August 30. Gangwar and Kannale have been booked under Section 318(3) for cheating through breach of trust and Section 10 of the Karnataka Public Examination Act, 2023, relating to corruption in the recruitment process.
The CID and the Enforcement Directorate have alleged that Gangwar received Rs 1.3 crore from Kannale this year in connection with the question leak. Both men were also arrested by the ED in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged KPSC fraud, with Gangwar arrested on September 18 and Kannale on September 24.
The CID is due to file its chargesheet by November 26, 90 days after the first arrest. If the chargesheet is not filed within the applicable period, people in custody may become eligible for release. The prosecution-sanction question has added significance because earlier KPSC recruitment fraud investigations, including the 2013 KAS officers’ recruitment scam, faced court intervention after sanction to prosecute a public servant was not granted. In that case, the Karnataka High Court ordered a Special Investigation Team and fresh investigation.
The state government had argued before the Supreme Court that there was no finding of investigative lapse or misconduct by the CID that justified replacing its probe. The Supreme Court’s October 13 order allowed the agency to proceed with chargesheets where necessary, leaving the sanction request and the November 26 deadline as the next immediate steps in the case.
