Suspended IAS officer Mr. N Prasanth has publicly alleged that Kerala’s Chief Secretary initially approved his request to live-stream and digitally record his upcoming personal hearing, only to reverse the decision without explanation days later. Mr. Prasanth, who was suspended in November 2024 over a social media post critical of senior IAS officer Mr. A Jayathilak (1991 batch), has maintained that the disciplinary proceedings against him lack transparency and fairness.
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In an open letter addressed to the Chief Secretary in February 2025, Mr. Prasanth had requested that his personal hearing be conducted online with live streaming and digital recording, citing the importance of transparency. On April 4, the state government responded by directing him to appear for a personal hearing before the Chief Secretary on April 16. Mr. Prasanth claimed that his request for live streaming was “fully accepted” at that time.
However, on April 11, the government issued a clarification denying permission for live streaming and video recording of the hearing. Mr. Prasanth, taking to Facebook, alleged that the decision was abruptly reversed without citing any reason. “Though this request was fully accepted on 04 April 2025, it was withdrawn on 11 April 2025. No reasons were mentioned in the letter as to why the decision changed after seven nights,” he wrote.
The 2007-batch IAS officer also took issue with sections of the media that criticized his demand for transparency, calling it a strange request. “In this era of the Right to Information and transparency, who finds this strange?” he asked, adding that he learned about crucial documents and developments in his disciplinary case not through official channels, but through the media.
Mr. Prasanth had also filed a complaint against Mr. Jayathilak on November 14, 2024, reportedly backed by evidence, but claimed that no inquiry was initiated. He alleged procedural lapses during the disciplinary proceedings, including being given just a day to respond to a letter sent on January 18, 2025, and that his multiple written responses were ignored on the grounds that they were not titled as “Statement of Defense.”
Further, he accused the administration of delaying access to relevant documents for over a month despite repeated written requests. Mr. Prasanth also claimed that some of his official communications to the Chief Secretary had gone missing.
Mr. Prasanth and another officer, Mr. K Gopalakrishnan (2013-batch IAS officer), were both suspended on November 11, 2024. While Mr. Gopalakrishnan — accused of creating a religion-based WhatsApp group for government officials — was reinstated in January, Mr. Prasanth’s suspension was extended by another 120 days.
Mr. Prasanth, who previously served as Special Secretary in the Agriculture Department, continues to allege serious misconduct and procedural improprieties in the handling of his case.
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