Move to limit action to suspension; government shielding suspended IAS officers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government is protecting IAS officers K Gopalakrishnan, who was suspended for creating Hindu and Muslim WhatsApp groups, and N Prasanth, who was suspended for publicly insulting the Additional Chief Secretary.

Although it has been a month since Prasanth was suspended from service, he has not yet received a charge memo from the government. The suspension order stated that his actions were aimed at disrupting unity within the administrative system and constituted behaviour unbefitting of a civil service officer, showing contempt toward the IAS. As per the rule, a charge memo should be issued to those who are to be suspended, and after hearing their explanation, a departmental inquiry or action should be initiated.

The charge memo issued by the Chief Secretary to Gopalakrishnan mentioned that he tried to create divisions among IAS officers. The suspension order from the Chief Secretary stated that Gopalakrishnan created the groups with the intent of creating division and breaking unity among IAS officers. Gopalakrishnan’s claim that someone else created the groups by hacking his phone was found to be false by the police. Filing a false complaint is a crime that can lead to imprisonment for up to six months. Moreover, it was found that Gopalakrishnan had formatted his phone thrice and wiped out all data from it before handing it over for forensic examination. This is considered evidence destruction. However, no explanation was sought in the charge memo for any of these matters.

The police are of the opinion that there's no need to file a case against Gopalakrishnan. The move is to trivialize the allegations and restrict the action to suspension. Adeela Abdullah had filed a complaint with the Chief Secretary against Gopalakrishnan for including her in a WhatsApp group of Muslim officials. However, no investigation has been carried out in that regard either.

The police's stance is that there were no hateful messages or references in the groups, and the purpose of the group is unclear. The police also stated that the case would not stand without anyone involved in the group filing a complaint. In the legal advice given to the police by the District Government Pleader, it was clearly stated that the WhatsApp group formed on a religious basis among IAS officers could lead to division, disrupt unity, and foster religious rivalry.