KOCHI/THIRUVANTHAPURAM: In a major setback for the state government, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Tuesday stayed till September 22 the transfer of principal secretary B Ashok to the personal and administrative department (P&ARD).
This is the second time in eight days that the tribunal’s Ernakulam bench is staying the senior bureaucrat’s transfer. Ashok can now stay on in agriculture department.
The CAT intervention— coming just days after Ashok rejoined the agriculture department following the tribunal’s stay of an earlier government order appointing him as chairman and managing director of the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC)—has not only brought the simmering power struggle within the state’s IAS cadre into the open, but also delivered a major blow to the government and plunged Chief Secretary A Jayathilak deeper into the controversy.
The bench observed that the government’s latest transfer order was issued while a stay was already in effect on an earlier directive appointing Ashok as the CMD of the KTDFC.
‘Govt’s hasty action reeks of panic’
“Issuing such an order without the leave of the tribunal, when the matter is pending and under a stay...is not appreciated by us,” the CAT said in its latest order. Following the CAT’s intervention, what was expected to be an administrative reshuffle has turned into a full-blown political and bureaucratic drama, with whispers of behind-the-scenes manoeuvring and unchecked authority.
In a move widely seen as reckless and premature, the government ordered Ashok’s transfer from the powerful position of agricultural production commissioner and principal secretary, agriculture, to P&ARD on September 15, barely 24 hours before his case was scheduled for further hearing at CAT.
This is the third intervention by the CAT this year. On June 3, it set aside Ashok’s appointment as chairperson of the local self-government reforms commission. On September 9, it stayed another government order shifting him to the KTDFC. The controversy ignited when Ashok was transferred as the KTDFC CMD on August 30, prompting him to approach CAT. The tribunal suspended the transfer on September 9, allowing Ashok to continue in the agriculture department.
A retired bureaucrat and former chief secretary said the government had every right to transfer officers, but doing so while the matter was under CAT’s review reflected an utter disregard for due process and governance.
The backlash is not limited to official corridors. Suspended IAS officer Prasanth N took to social media to accuse Jayathilak of either gross ignorance of civil service laws or a blatant attempt to bypass them.
“This is not just incompetence; it is a direct affront to administrative integrity,” he wrote. Senior bureaucrats were critical, describing the move as a “blunder that has left the government fumbling in the dark.” One principal secretary said, “Even contempt proceedings can be initiated. This hasty action reeks of panic, not prudent administration.”
The atmosphere within the IAS community is tense. Junior officers, normally wary of raising their voices, are increasingly emboldened by the tribunal’s intervention. Several ministers are also reportedly frustrated, though none publicly. Repeated calls and messages to Jayathilak for comments went unanswered.