K Gopalakrishnan & N Prasanth

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

Gopalakrishnan was suspended for creating communal WhatsApp groups – called Mallu Hindu Officers and Mallu Muslim Officers – among IAS cadres and for making false statements to the police that he was not responsible for their creation and his phone was hacked. The action against Prasanth came after he took out Additional Chief Secretary A Jayathilak in social media posts.
Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan submitted a report to the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on these incidents and highlighted potential violations of the All-India Service Conduct Rules, 1968. Based on this report, the Chief Minister took the decision to suspend these officers and initiate departmental inquiries against them.
The police found no evidence of Gopalakrishnan’s claim that his phone was hacked, while his false claim constituted not only a breach of service conduct but also an offense of filing a false police complaint and tampering with evidence. He handed over his phone for investigation after dialing it.
“WhatsApp group created to fuel division”
The government, prima facie, is of the view that the said WhatsApp group created by Gopalakrishnan was intended to foment division, sow disunity and break solidarity among the cadres of the AllIndia Services in the state.
It has also been prima facie found that communal formations and alignments are being created within the All India Services cadres in the state, the suspension order said. The Chief Secretary’s report also detailed the ongoing feud between Jayathilak and Prasanth.
Jayathilak had reported about Prasanth’s irregularities, including missing files and inconsistent attendance at the SC/ST department, and a vernacular daily had published them. Prasanth targeted Jayathilak, accusing him of ruining the careers of many subordinate officers by disobeying his directives.
Prasanth’s suspension order said the government was prima facie satisfied that his remarks amounted to gross indiscipline and that such remarks undermined the public image of the administrative machinery in the state. “The prima facie remarks also have the potential to create division and disaffection in the Indian Administrative Service in the state, which may also affect service to the public.
These remarks are prima facie considered to be unbecoming of an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service cadre,” it said. The government will now appoint officers to investigate both matters under the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules. Gopalakrishnan is also likely to face a police case against him