THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The war within the IAS ranks in the state has further intensified with suspended officer Prasanth N demanding a seven-point clarification from the chief secretary in response to the charge memo issued against him earlier this month.
The unprecedented move came after Prasanth was suspended from the post of special secretary, agriculture department, last month for his social media posts against his senior and additional chief secretary A Jayathilak and former industries director K Gopalakrishnan. Prasanth had earlier served a legal notice through his counsel to chief secretary Sarada Muraleedharan and the two IAS officers.
The charge memo issued to Prasanth had included screenshots of the ‘objectionable’ comments he allegedly made on Facebook. The IAS officer has maintained that the suo motu nature of this disciplinary action, particularly based on unauthenticated, photoshopped and selectively included screenshots, raises serious concerns about the procedural propriety of the process. Prasanth sought to know from the chief secretary why a charge memo was issued when no formal complaint has been lodged either by Jayathilak or Gopalakrishnan against the Facebook posts.
He also pointed out that he sought no explanation or clarification before issuing the charge memo and the suspension order. The IAS officer sought to know whether the authenticity of the screenshots of the social media posts was ascertained and whether they were procured through competent channels. He also asked how the government could confirm that the screenshots were not tampered with or altered.
He also sought to know the authority responsible for collection, transmission and inclusion of the screenshots in the charge memo. Prasanth stated that he would respond to the charge memo after the clarifications he had sought, as well as the supporting documents, are provided to him. In the charge memo, the government had cited Prasanth’s four Facebook posts and a comment to a post.
He was charged with public vilification, showing irresponsible behaviour unbecoming of an officer, grave indiscipline, insubordination, violation of high ethical standards, and lack of integrity, honesty, accountability, courtesy and good behaviour.
The charge memo said Prasanth tried to build a narrative against other IAS officers among the public and tarnish the reputation of the government. It had concluded that Prasanth tried to further vindicate his actions through press and social media and that it amounted to a violation of the provisions of the All India Service (Conduct) Rules, 1968.
Prasanth’s seven queries
Source of the posts relied upon in the charge memo
Authentication of screenshots cited in the charge memo
IP addresses and Metadata relied upon
Access logs and custody of materials relied upon
Cognizance and authority of officers who accessed the posts
Validation carried out with the social media platform
Consent obtained if private posts were used in official proceedings