Two IAS officers of Kerala suspended
The Kerala government has suspended two IAS officers for not following service rules and violating discipline. Both their names are K. Gopalakrishnan and N.Prashanth. The government has said that Gopalakrishnan has acted in a manner that has created disunity within the All India Services cadre, while Prashant’s conduct has damaged the image of the state’s administrative system. Gopalakrishnan had created a religion-based ‘Whatsapp group’ for government officials due to which he was suspended. Prashant was suspended because he had publicly criticized a senior IAS officer on social media.
Big allegations have been made against both the officers
The Pinarayi Vijayan government of Kerala, in the suspension order issued late on Monday night of the two IAS officers, made it clear that the actions of both of them amounted to serious indiscipline and violation of various sections of the All India Services Conduct Rules 1968. The order said that a ‘Whatsapp group’ was recently formed, Industries Director Gopalakrishnan was described as the ‘admin’ of the said group. Police investigation revealed that there was no evidence to prove that Gopalakrishnan’s mobile phone was ‘hacked’ as claimed by the officer.
The officer himself had repeatedly ‘factory reset’ the mobile phone before submitting the phone for forensic examination. It said, “The government prima facie believes that the purpose of the said ‘Whatsapp group’ created by Gopalakrishnan was to create division among the cadre of All India Services in the state and break their unity.”
Both officers were suspended
In a separate order suspending Special Secretary (Agriculture) N. Prashanth, the government accused the officer of making “derogatory statements” on social media against Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, IAS A. Jayathilak. According to the order issued, these comments amount to serious indiscipline and such comments harm the public image of the administrative system in the state.
