Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Monday, November 11, suspended two IAS officers, K Gopalakrishnan and N Prasanth, for violation of discipline, reports said.
While Gopalakrishnan was suspended for creating a religion-based WhatsApp group called “Mallu Hindu Officers”, action was taken against Prasanth for criticising a senior IAS officer on social media.
In the controversial WhatsApp group, officers from various communities were added, and the group was labelled as a Hindu community group.
Sources told PTI that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered the suspension of the officials based on the report he received from the chief secretary.
While Gopalakrishnan was the Director of Industries and Commerce, Prasanth held the responsibility of Special Secretary in the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers’ Welfare.
‘Baseless allegations’, says IAS officer
Prasanth recently took to Facebook to accuse A Jayathilak, the additional chief secretary, of “orchestrating baseless” news reports against him.
In his post, Prasanth alleged that Jayathilak had become a ‘special reporter’ and was working to undermine him by spreading unfounded allegations through the media.
Attacking Jayathilak, the post read, “I feel compelled to share some important facts about Jayathilak, a senior IAS officer, that the public deserves to know.
“Although I generally avoid discussing government matters in public, there seems to be no alternative at this point. My intention is to reveal only those issues that the public has the right to know, in accordance with the Right to Information.”
The issue cropped up following a media report that alleged lapses on Prasanth’s part, claiming that several crucial files from ‘Unnathi’–an initiative dedicated to the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)–had mysteriously gone missing during his tenure as its CEO.
The report also claimed that Jayathilak had submitted a report on this matter to CM Vijayan.
Prasanth, who previously served as Kozhikode district collector and in other top posts, is popularly known as ‘Collector Bro’ and had earlier posted on Facebook to refute the allegations against him.
Regarding the allegations against Gopalakrishnan, the Kerala police conducted an investigation following his complaint that his WhatsApp account was used to create religion-based WhatsApp groups.
The Thiruvananthapuram city police carried out an investigation and submitted a report to the state police chief.
Amid reports quoting the police suggesting that the IAS officer’s phone was not hacked, Thiruvananthapuram city police commissioner Sparjan Kumar stated that it remains unclear whether the device was compromised, as it had been ‘reset.’
In his complaint to the police, Gopalakrishnan stated that he had not added any officers to the group in question.
IAS officers should follow discipline: Minister
Earlier in the day, Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan had said that government officials should follow certain disciplines while being in service, and anyone who breaches them would be dealt with stringent actions.
He said the government can not allow officials to work in violation of service rules and disciplines.
The minister was responding to questions by reporters in connection with some recent Facebook posts by Prasanth against his senior colleague Jayathilak, which sparked controversy in the state.
Without naming any officials, Rajan had said the government was viewing the matter with “utmost seriousness” and the Chief Secretary would soon submit a report in this regard.
“After getting this, the chief minister will take a stringent decision on this,” he had said.
Suspended officers face serious charges
In the suspension orders issued late Monday night, the government made it clear that the act of both civil service officers amounted to grave indiscipline and violation of various sections of the All India Service Conduct Rules, 1968.
The order, issued by chief secretary Sarada Muraleedharan, said that a police inquiry revealed that there was no evidence indicating that the mobile phone of Gopalakrishnan was hacked, as claimed by the officer.
It is also revealed that a repeated factory reset of the mobile phone was done by the officer himself before submitting his phones for forensic examination, according to the order.
“The Government, prima facie, is of the view that the said WhatsApp Group created by Gopalakrishnan K was intended to foment division, sow disunity and break the solidarity within the cadres of the All India Services in the State,” it said.
It was also prima facie found to be creating communal formations and alignments within the cadres of the All India Services, the order added.
Meanwhile, in a separate order placing Agriculture Special Secretary N Prashant under suspension, the government accused the officer of making “derogatory statements” on social media against A Jayathilak IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department.
As per the order issued by the Chief Secretary, these remarks amount to grave indiscipline and such remarks undermine the public image of the administrative machinery in the state.
