T'puram: The govt issued a charge memo against suspended bureaucrat Prasanth N, citing misconduct related to his social media posts and comments criticising fellow IAS officers A Jayathilak and K Gopalakrishnan. The memo characterised the personal criticisms as potentially detrimental to the govt, claiming that Prasanth's actions caused irreparable injury to the administrative framework and damaged the govt's reputation.
The charges are based on Prasanth's six Facebook posts. According to the charge memo, a post featuring an advertisement for KAMCO's (the PSU that he was heading while being suspended from service) Power Weeders, captioned "best for uprooting weeds," could be interpreted as an indirect critique of the two officers. Additionally, Prasanth's comments regarding Jayathilak with the phrase "Madampalliyile Chitharogi" (the maniac of Madampally), drawn from a popular Malayalam film, were described as derogatory, though the phrase is commonly used in a light-hearted context.
The memo concludes that Prasanth's Facebook posts were derogatory for the two officers. Though satire is often a means of expressing criticism while navigating potential legal repercussions, the charges framed against the officer invite readers to consider how the use of colloquial language and marketing content, when employed satirically, could serve as a basis for initiating legal action. The document further states that Prasanth fostered "divisiveness and disaffection" within the IAS cadre and undermined governance through his remarks. It also claims that he continued to make derogatory statements about Jayathilak even after his suspension, both on social media and in television interviews, suggesting an intent to mislead and gain publicity.
The controversy primarily revolves around a report by Gopalakrishnan, who accused Prasanth of not handing over files during his transfer. In response, Jayathilak submitted a report to the govt attributing it to Prasanth for the missing files, which was subsequently published in a vernacular newspaper. However, official records confirm that all files were handed over to Jayathilak on May 13, 2024, by the then minister K Radhakrishnan (who relinquished his post upon being elected as an MP). Prasanth alleged through his social media posts that the two officers conspired to disseminate defamatory information. Notably, the chargesheet describes Prasanth's allegations against Jayathilak as "baseless," despite the lack of any disclosed inquiry or investigation into the matter.
While the lengthy chargesheet makes broad assertions against Prasanth, claiming that he made "derogatory remarks" about the two officers, the absence of specific evidence to conclude the comments as derogatory raises questions about the proportionality and intent of the charges. The concluding paragraph of the chargesheet lists charges including "public vilification, irresponsible behaviour unbecoming of an officer, grave indiscipline, insubordination, violation of ethical standards, integrity, honesty, accountability, and lack of courtesy and good behaviour" against the officer.