Kerala government suspends IAS officer for forming WA joint groups | Thiruvananthapuram News

K Gopalakrishnan & N Prasanth

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government on Monday suspended two IAS officers – director industries K Gopalakrishnan and special secretary (agriculture) N Prasanth – from service, pending departmental inquiry against them on disciplinary charges.

Gopalakrishnan was suspended for founding WhatsApp groups with communal overtones – called Mallu Hindu Officers and Mallu Muslim Officers – under the IAS cadre and for making false representations to the police that he was not responsible for their creation and that his phone had been hacked. The action against Prasanth came after he took on Additional Chief Secretary A Jayathilak in social media posts.
Chief secretary Sarada Muraleedharan had submitted a report to the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan about these incidents and highlighted the possible violations of the All-India Service Conduct Rules, 1968. Based on this report, the Chief Minister took the decision to suspend these officials and initiate departmental inquiries against them.
Police had found no evidence to support Gopalakrishnan’s claim that his phone had been hacked, even though his false claim constituted not only a violation of the agency’s code of conduct but also a criminal offense of filing a false police complaint and tampering with the evidence. He had handed in his phone for investigation after formatting it.
‘WhatsApp group created to stir up division’
The government is prima facie of the view that the said WhatsApp group, founded by Gopalakrishnan, was aimed at creating division, sowing division and breaking solidarity within the cadres of AllIndia Services in the state.
Prima facie, it was also found that joint formations and alignments were emerging within the cadres of the All India Services in the state, the suspension order said. The chief secretary’s report had also detailed the ongoing feud between Jayathilak and Prasanth.
Jayathilak had reported on Prasanth’s lapses, including missing files and inconsistent attendance in the SC/ST department, and a local daily had published them. Prasanth had targeted Jayathilak in social media posts, accusing him of ruining the careers of many junior officers for not following his directives.
Prasanth’s suspension order stated that the government was prima facie satisfied that his comments amounted to serious indiscipline and that such comments undermined the public image of the administrative machinery in the state. “The comments also prima facie have the potential to create division and discontent within the Indian Administrative Service in the state, which could also affect service delivery to the public.
These comments are prima facie found inappropriate for an officer belonging to the cadre of the Indian Administrative Service,” the report said. The government will now appoint officials to investigate both the cases under the All-India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules. Gopalakrishnan is also likely to face a police case over allegations against him