Kerala government reinstates IAS officer K Gopalakrishnan; N Prasanth's suspension to continue

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has reinstated IAS officer K Gopalakrishnan who was suspended for allegedly creating a religion-based WhatsApp group of government officials.

The government, however, decided to continue the suspension of IAS officer N Prasanth for 120 days more. Prasanth was suspended for criticising a senior IAS officer on social media.

Both officers were suspended on November 11 last year. In the order reinstating Gopalakrishnan, the government said that the Suspension Review Committee reviewed his suspension and observed that there was "no substantive ground necessitating the continuation of the officer under suspension".

"The Committee recommended the disciplinary authority to revoke the suspension of the officer pending finalization of disciplinary action against him. The government has examined the matter in detail and are pleased to accept the recommendation of the Suspension Review Committee. The officer is reinstated in service, pending finalization of disciplinary action against him," the government order of January 9 said.

In the case of Prasanth, the government said that the Committee has recommended that his suspension be continued for a further period of 120 days with effect from January 10.

"The government has accepted the recommendation of the Suspension Review Committee and hereby order that the period of suspension of Prasanth N IAS is extended for a further period of 120 days with effect from January 10," a separate government order of January 9 said.

At the time of their suspension, Gopalakrishnan was the Director of Industries and Commerce and Prasanth had held the responsibility of Special Secretary in the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers' Welfare.

Prasanth, last year, had on Facebook accused A Jayathilak, the Additional Chief Secretary, of "orchestrating baseless" news reports against him.

In his post, Prasanth had alleged that Jayathilak had become a "special reporter' and was working to undermine him by spreading unfounded allegations through the media.

The issue cropped up following a media report that alleged lapses on Prasanth's part, claiming that several crucial files from 'Unnathi'--an initiative dedicated to the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)--had mysteriously gone missing during his tenure as its CEO.

The report also claimed that Jayathilak had submitted a report on this matter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Prasanth, who had previously served as Kozhikode District Collector and in other top posts, is popularly known as 'Collector Bro' and had earlier posted on Facebook to refute the allegations against him.

Gopalakrishnan, in a complaint to the police, had claimed that he had not added any officers to the group in question.

In the controversial WhatsApp group, officers from various communities were added, and the group was labelled as a Hindu community group.