IAS officers suspended; CM takes action based on report submitted by Chief Secretary

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture Department special secretary N Prasanth, who raised serious allegations against Additional Chief Secretary Jayathilakan, and Industries Department director Gopalakrishnan, who created a religion-based WhatsApp group, have been suspended from service. The actions of the two IAS officers had caused disrepute to the government.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took the action based on the report submitted by Chief Secretary Sharada Muraleedharan. The Chief Secretary had recommended that as the officers had acted against Service Rules, action could be taken against them without seeking an explanation. The CM issued the order immediately after reaching the state capital after finishing the campaign for the by-elections.

Agriculture Development and Farmers' Welfare Department Secretary Prasanth had taken an indirect dig at Jayathilak through a Facebook post yesterday as well.

There are specific procedures and conditions to conduct investigations, even against junior IAS officers. A group of IAS officers are of the opinion that Additional Chief Secretary A Jayathilak conducted the investigation against Prasanth, who was the CEO of 'Unnathi,' without following these protocols. However, another group is arguing that publicly insulting senior officials is a breach of discipline and such action cannot be permitted under any circumstances.

Industries Department Director Gopalakrishnan had claimed that religion-based WhatsApp groups were created by hacking his phone. However, the police had found in its investigation that this argument was a lie. Although the Chief Secretary had sought an explanation from Gopalakrishnan, the explanation provided by the officer was not satisfactory.

Revenue Minister K Rajan said that strict action would be taken against those violating rules, regardless of their position. The CPM has also expressed dissatisfaction over the infighting between the IAS officers.