In response to the charge memo issued by Kerala Chief Secretary Sharada Muraleedharan, former Special Secretary of the Agriculture Department, N. Prasanth IAS, has submitted a detailed letter containing seven pointed questions to the chief secretary.
Prasanth had been suspended for allegedly criticising Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak and former Industries Department Director K. Gopalakrishnan on social media. Subsequently, the chief secretary issued a charge memo as part of a departmental inquiry. However, instead of directly responding to the allegations in the memo, Prasanth has raised counter-questions, challenging the procedural integrity of the inquiry.
In his letter, Prasanth demanded that the chief secretary provide explanations on seven critical points. He emphasised that neither Jayathilak nor Gopalakrishnan had filed any formal complaints against him regarding the social media posts. This, he argued, raises questions about the rationale behind the government initiating a charge memo on its own without a complainant.
Prasanth further expressed concerns about procedural fairness, questioning why he was not given an opportunity to present his side before the suspension or the issuance of the charge memo. He sought clarification on who collected the screenshots of his Facebook posts that were attached to the charge memo, from which government official’s account they were retrieved, and which officer had been assigned the task of compiling this material.
He also pointed out that one of the screenshots provided to him appeared to have been sourced from a private individual’s account. Prasanth argued that this strongly suggests the charge memo was based on material obtained from an external source, which he claims requires an explanation. He questioned how such information, collected by a private individual, was included in official government files.
Additionally, Prasanth demanded clarification on whether the digital screenshots were certified under IT laws to ensure authenticity and to confirm there was no tampering. He insisted that the chief secretary address these critical concerns.
Earlier, Prashanth had sent a legal notice against Chief Secretary Sharada Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak, Industries Director K. Gopalakrishnan, and a local newspaper. The notice alleged serious offenses, including forgery, fabrication of documents, tampering with official records, and criminal conspiracy.
The ongoing feud among IAS officers has placed the Pinarayi Vijayan government in an increasingly difficult position. With Prasanth’s latest move, the internal conflict has escalated further, adding to the government’s troubles and raising questions about governance and administrative integrity.