THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The spat between two IAS officers in Kerala intensified on Sunday with special secretary, agriculture, Prasanth N continuing his tirade on social media against senior colleague A Jayathilak, additional chief secretary, finance.
Hours after Prasanth’s second round of attack, Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan submitted a report on the episode to the CM.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Prasanth said criticising the government or its policies is not allowed as per Civil Services rules but it does not prevent him from criricising the media or IAS officers. He alleged that Jayathilak has scuttled the life and career of many sincere IAS officers who refused toe his line.
Amid reports he would face disciplinary action, Prasanth cited Article 311 of the Constitution that outlines the procedure and safeguards to be followed before a civil servant can be dismissed, removed, or reduced in rank. Prasanth reminded that Article 311 gives an IAS officer protection if he turns whistleblower.
Prasanth said he received veiled threats in the form of advice from some people, who said he should strike a compromise with Jayathilak. He said he wants to put an end to the list of IAS officers whose lives have been destroyed by Jayathilak. “He picked on the wrong person at the end of that long list of his,” Prasanth said.
He also posted the screenshot of a newspaper report on the CBI recommending an FIR against Jayathilak for alleged corruption during his stint as the Spices Board chairman.