Mallu Hindu WhatsApp Group: Kerala suspends two IAS officers, starts probe

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State govt on Monday suspended two IAS officers - industries director K Gopalakrishnan and special secretary (agriculture) N Prasanth - from service, pending departmental inquiries against them, on disciplinary charges.



Gopalakrishnan was suspended for creating WhatsApp groups with communal overtones - named Mallu Hindu Officers and Mallu Muslim Officers - among the IAS cadre and making false representations to police that he was not responsible for creating them and his phone was 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 chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on these incidents and highlighted the potential breaches of All-India Service Conduct Rules, 1968 in them. It was based on this report that the chief minister took the decision to suspend these officers and initiate departmental inquiries against them.

Police had found no evidence of Gopalakrishnan's claim that his phone was hacked, while his false claim constituted not only a violation of service conduct rules, but also a criminal offence for filing a false police complaint and tampering with the evidence. He had surrendered his phone for investigation after formatting it.

‘WhatsApp group created to foment division’

The govt, prima facie, is of the view that the said WhatsApp group created by Gopalakrishnan was intended to foment division, sow disunity and break the solidarity within the cadres of the AllIndia Services in the state.

It was also prima facie found to be creating communal formations and alignments 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 vernacular daily had published them. Prasanth had, in social media posts, targeted Jayathilak, accusing him of ruining the careers of many subordinate officers for not following his directives.

The suspension order of Prasanth said the government was prima facie satisfied that his remarks amounted to grave indiscipline and such remarks undermined the public image of the administrative machinery in the state. “The remarks prima facie also have the potential of creating divisiveness and disaffection in the Indian Administrative Service in the state that can also affect service to the public.

These remarks are prima facie found to be unbecoming of an officer belonging to the cadre of the Indian Administrative Service,” it said. The govt will now appoint officers to inquire into both these matters on the basis of All-India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules. Gopalakrishnan is also likely to face a police case on charges against him