Suspended IAS officer Prasanth raises promotion demand during hearing

Thiruvananthapuram: The sparring between suspended Kerala IAS officer N. Prasanth and Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan continues unabated, with Prasanth demanding immediate action on his much-delayed promotion.

Following his hearing with Muraleedharan, Prasanth shared the details of the meeting on Facebook on Thursday.

A 2007-batch IAS officer, Prasanth was suspended after levelling serious allegations against senior bureaucrats, including Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak (1991-batch), IAS officer K. Gopalakrishnan (2013-batch), and Chief Secretary Muraleedharan herself.

He also issued legal notices to them, accusing them of fabricating charges and conspiring against him.

In his Facebook post, Prasanth mentioned that he was unable to respond to the numerous calls and messages he received about the hearing due to his busy schedule.

“I brought to their attention my promotion, which has been hanging fire since 2022, as the rule states promotion issues should be settled in a matter of six months. I want to get my promotion, and each file should not turn out to be one where one’s life is at stake,” he said.

“To initiate action against the FB post I made is foolhardy and against the All India Service rules, and to commence another probe should not be done,” he added.

“A case should be registered against Jayathilak, Gopalakrishnan and Mathrubhumi newspaper for conspiring against me and for making fake documents.

“The rule of law is also applicable to the government, and it should not behave in a manner that those aggrieved can resort to legal redress. This does not augur well for governance. Until now I have not filed any case against the government, and please do not open an avenue for that,” he added.

“My appeal is that there need be no hurry to revoke my suspension without addressing all these issues which I have raised,” wrote Prasanth.

The controversy revolves around an inquiry report allegedly authored by Jayathilak, which accuses Prasanth of being accountable for missing documents related to the Unnathi project during his tenure as CEO, discrepancies in his attendance records, and breaches of service conduct, including posting derogatory remarks on social media.

Prasanth, however, has consistently argued that the case against him is based on unreliable digital evidence and lacks both procedural and legal validity. He has also pointed fingers at Jayathilak and Gopalakrishnan, holding them responsible for his suspension.

Adding complexity to the situation, Muraleedharan is set to retire on April 30 this year, with Jayathilak widely expected to succeed her.

(inputs from IANS)