Kerala Government Suspends Two IAS Officers for Indiscipline

The Kerala government suspended IAS officers K Gopalakrishnan and N Prashant for serious indiscipline and violations of service rules. Gopalakrishnan allegedly created a religion-based WhatsApp group, while Prashant publicly criticized a senior IAS official. Both actions were deemed harmful to the state's administrative image.

The Kerala government has suspended two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, K Gopalakrishnan and N Prashant, citing severe breaches of service rules and grave indiscipline. The actions of these officers reportedly compromised the unity within the All India Service Cadre, with Gopalakrishnan accused of sowing discord by creating a religion-based WhatsApp group.

N Prashant, serving as Agriculture Special Secretary, faced suspension for airing derogatory remarks on social media against A Jayathilak, a senior IAS officer. These statements, according to the government, threatened to tarnish the public image of Kerala's administrative machinery and risked creating disaffection within the cadre.

The suspension orders emphasized the seriousness of these actions and pointed out that Gopalakrishnan's WhatsApp group was aimed at causing division within the services. Moreover, the lack of credible evidence of his phone being hacked, as he had claimed, further led to disciplinary action. Meanwhile, Prashant's critique of a fellow officer on social media was deemed as both disrespectful and damaging to the cohesive functioning of the IAS in the state.

(With inputs from agencies.)