THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an unprecedented move, Chief Secretary Tom Jose on Friday responded to the CAG report stating that character assassination of an officer in the name of a report was a bad precedent. His comments came after the report that raised allegations against State Police Chief Loknath Behera put the government in a spot.The top bureaucrat also raised suspicion whether the report got leaked before it was tabled in the assembly.
“The CAG report is made public after tabling it in the assembly. But it is suspected that the information in the report was leaked prior to the tabling.” said the chief secretary. He clarified that the report had mentioned the performance of departments during the period of two governments from 2013 to 2018.
He was critical of the media trial. It was unfortunate that some media resorted to personal attacks and allegations which were not included in the CAG report, he said, citing reports that blamed him for using the police department’s vehicle. “There is nothing wrong in the chief secretary as the head of all departments using a department’s vehicle. There is nothing illegal in it,” said Tom Jose.
According to him, there were set conditions to take action on the basis of the CAG report. It is a violation of democratic decency when media resort to a hasty trial of officers. He said there would be investigation, explanations and corrections, if needed, based on the CAG report. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled the performance audit on general and social sectors in the assembly on Wednesday.