Civil service decorum appeared to take a back seat in Kerala’s bureaucracy as suspended IAS officer Mr. N. Prasanth (2007 batch) launched social media barbs at colleagues, including senior official Mr. A. Jayathilak (1991-batch IAS officer), Additional Chief Secretary for Taxes. Accusations centred on a “media leak” concerning the disappearance of files related to initiatives for the empowerment of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Mr. Prasanth, facing charges of insubordination and vilification of colleagues, posted on Facebook alleging that Officer Jayathilak’s office was behind the leak to a newspaper. The report suggested setbacks in Unnathi, a project for SC/ST empowerment, during Prasanth’s tenure as its director. The report was allegedly based on a letter by Officer Jayathilak to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, claiming Prasanth failed to hand over critical documents to his successor, Mr. K. Gopalakrishnan (2013-batch IAS officer).
Mr. Prasanth shared a screenshot of a government file purportedly showing a digital imprint linking the leak to Jayathilak’s office. He further accused the office of digital tampering and implied a conspiracy by Jayathilak and Officer Gopalakrishnan to undermine him following his transfer to the Agriculture Department. He described the alleged file date alterations as “time travel” and suggested that the e-file system precluded traditional forgery.
While Mr. Jayathilak has remained silent, Chief Secretary Ms. Sarada Muraleedharan (1990-batch IAS officer)had earlier issued a charge memo against IAS Prasanth for undermining the administration, making derogatory remarks, and tarnishing the government’s reputation. The IAS Officers’ Association is expected to review the escalating situation.
