The Kerala government has extended the suspension of IAS officer N. Prasanth by 120 days, effective from January 10. This decision was based on the recommendation of the suspension review committee.
Prasanth was suspended from his role as Special Secretary in the Agriculture Department in November for posting comments on social media allegedly targeting his senior, Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak, and former Industries Director K. Gopalakrishnan.
Subsequently, the Chief Secretary issued a charge memo as part of a departmental inquiry. According to the memo, Prasanth allegedly attempted to “build a narrative against other IAS officers among the public” and sought to tarnish the government’s reputation.
In December, Prasanth took the unusual step of sending a legal notice to Chief Secretary Sharada Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak, Industries Director K. Gopalakrishnan, and a local newspaper. He accused them of forgery, fabrication of documents, tampering with official records, and criminal conspiracy.
A week after sending the legal notice, Prasanth submitted a set of questions challenging the procedural integrity of the inquiry instead of directly addressing the allegations in the charge memo.
In his letter, he demanded explanations on seven critical points, emphasising that neither Jayathilak nor Gopalakrishnan had filed formal complaints against him regarding the social media posts. He argued that this absence of a complainant called into question the government’s rationale for initiating a charge memo on its own.
Prasanth also sought clarity on why he was not given an opportunity to present his side before his suspension or the issuance of the charge memo. Additionally, he questioned who collected the screenshots of his Facebook posts attached to the memo, from which government official’s account they were retrieved, and which officer was assigned to compile the material.
Notably, the suspension review committee revoked the suspension of K. Gopalakrishnan, who was also suspended on November 11 alongside Prasanth. Gopalakrishnan’s suspension was linked to allegations of creating a WhatsApp group of bureaucrats along religious lines.
“The officer is reinstated in service, pending finalisation of disciplinary action against him,” stated the order issued by Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan regarding Gopalakrishnan’s reinstatement.