Kerala’s government led by Pinarayi Vijayan suspended two IAS officers, K Gopalakrishnan and N Prashanth, for purported misconduct. Gopalakrishnan, an officer from the 2013 batch, faced backlash after forming a WhatsApp group named Mallu Hindu Officers this month. In the past three days, Prashanth posted multiple times on social media criticizing another IAS officer, A Jayathilak. Following this, he faced disciplinary measures.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan decided to suspend both individuals based on Chief Secretary Sharada Muralidharan’s report. Previously, Revenue Minister Rajan stated that officials are not permitted to operate according to their own discretion. Officers must operate in accordance with the established rules and regulations. The Mallu Hindu Officers Group was established on October 30, with numerous senior IAS officers joining as its members. Nevertheless, this group was eliminated after a few hours. Numerous officers had raised objections to this.
A few days later, Gopalakrishnan reported to the police that his phone had been hacked and that a group was formed. In addition to this, several other groups were established, one of which is named Mallu Muslim Officers. He also reset his phone. Following this, the level of suspicion grew even stronger.
The order that suspended Gopalakrishnan indicated that the police inquiry discovered no evidence implying that the device had been compromised. The order additionally stated that it was discovered that the officer had reformatted his phone multiple times prior to presenting it for forensic analysis.
Currently discussing IAS officer Prashant, he faced suspension for sharing derogatory comments about senior IAS officer A Jayatilaka of the state. A few days ago, Prashant stated in a Facebook post that Jayatilaka is a psychopath. He posted a news article about an inquiry into Jayatilaka concerning supposed misconduct during his time as Chairman of the Spices Board. The suspension order for Prashant indicated that he breached the IAS service regulations. In response to his suspension, Prashant stated that this measure was implemented without asking him for clarification.