Why were the Kerala IAS officers suspended? | Explained

Suspended IAS officer N. Prasanth addresses the media, in Trivandrum, Kerala, on November 12.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The story so far:Kerala has suspended two IAS officers, N. Prashant and K. Gopalakrishnan, citing violation of service rules.

What are the charges?

The charge against N. Prashant is that he had made ‘derogatory statements’ on social media against A. Jayathilak IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, that amounted to grave indiscipline and undermining the public image of the administrative machinery of the State. The government order stated that these remarks were ‘unbecoming of an officer’ borne in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Mr. Prashant alleged that Jayathilak had orchestrated baseless news reports against him. He refuted these allegations.

K. Gopalakrishnan has been suspended for allegedly creating a religion-based WhatsApp group — ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’ — that sowed disunity and created communal formations within the IAS cadre. He had claimed that this group was created after his mobile phone was hacked. However, the suspension order stated that the police inquiry found no evidence of such hacking and that the officer had done a ‘factory reset’ of the phone before handing it over to police.

Also read: Reining in civil servants in Kerala 

What do the rules state?

The All-India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 (AIS rules) governs the conduct of IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service officers. The AIS rules provide a code of conduct for the officers. Some of the rules relevant for the current issue are briefly summarised here. Officers should maintain high standards of ethics, integrity, honesty, political neutrality, accountability and transparency. They should uphold the supremacy of constitutional values. They can participate or contribute in public media in the bonafide discharge of their duties. They shall not in any communication over any public media adversely criticise the policies of the government. They shall not have recourse to any court or press for the vindication of official act, that has been subject matter of criticism, without the previous sanction of the government. It also contains an omnibus rule that the officers shall do nothing which is ‘unbecoming of a member of the service.’

What are the issues?

There are certain overall issues that need to be addressed. First, the rules don’t have explicit guidelines with respect to communication through social media. Second, the rules have been amended from time to time by including various new conduct guidelines that regulate both the private and official life of officers. The term ‘unbecoming of a member of the service’ however continues as an omnibus rider that can be misused/misinterpreted. It must also be borne in mind that invariably in all cases, it is the senior officers and government who enforce these rules against junior officers and hence the latter need to be protected from any such misuse.

What can be reviewed?

Firstly, specific rules may be added with respect to the use of social media. This may include guidelines for the nature of official content that can be posted as well the right to defend against any defamatory campaign concerning official work. Secondly, an illustrative list may be provided for the term ‘unbecoming of a member of the service,’ based on past instances where action had been taken on this basis. Officers, especially youngsters, should remember that anonymity is an important trait of civil servants. In the present day and age, social media is a powerful medium for providing publicity to various governmental initiatives. It educates citizens when used judiciously. However, officers should exercise responsible anonymity while discharging their functions and disseminating information about the same.

Rangarajan. R is a former IAS officer and author of ‘Polity Simplified’. Views expressed are personal.