Kerala | Suspended IAS officer seeks clarification on chargesheet

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 27 (PTI) Kerala IAS officer N Prasanth, popularly known as "collector bro," who was suspended for his social media comments against senior officials, has sought an explanation from the Chief Secretary regarding the chargesheet issued against him.

Prashanth, in his letter to the Chief Secretary, dated December 16, 2024, said, "On its own, nature of this disciplinary action, particularly when based on unauthenticated, photoshopped, and selectively included screenshots, raises serious concerns about the procedural propriety of the process." In his letter, he raised serious questions as to how an official cognisance was taken of a particular social media exchange amongst many of the procedures followed for its inclusion in the file and the subsequent disciplinary action.

He stated that it is pertinent to note that no explanation or clarification was sought from him before the issuance of the charge memo or the suspension.

In the letter, Prasanth said it is now evident from the chargesheet that no formal complaint or representation has been submitted by the two IAS officers—the individuals allegedly referenced in the memo—against whom Prashanth had raised charges.

He has stated in the letter that the authority and process through which the purported social media screenshots were included in the official records are unclear.

He also demanded to know whether these materials were procured through competent channels and whether their authenticity had been ascertained by any authorised authority.

Further, he demanded to know the details regarding the steps taken to confirm that the materials, particularly the screenshots, are untampered and unaltered.

"Please furnish the details of the chain of custody for these documents and specify the authority responsible for their cognisance, collection, transmission, and inclusion in the charge memo," Prashanth wrote in his letter to the Chief Secretary.

He has requested the chief secretary to provide specific details on seven subheads in light of the circumstances and procedural doubts he raised.

He sought specific details regarding the source of posts, authentication of screenshots, IP addresses, metadata, access logs, and chain of custody of materials used in issuing the chargesheet.

Additionally, he questioned the cognizance and authority of officers, platform validation conducted, and whether consent was obtained for the content in question.

According to official sources, the IAS officer's major contentions in his letter are that the screenshots of his Facebook posts were taken by some private individuals and included in the official files without following due procedure and that some of the evidence has either been photoshopped or enlarged.

Sources said it is a routine process for an officer to seek an explanation from his superiors if no proper communication is provided to him after handing over a charge memo.

The chief secretary has not yet provided a reply to the letter sent by Prashanth on December 16, sources added.

Last month, the Left government in Kerala suspended two IAS officers, K Gopalakrishnan and N Prasanth, for violation of discipline.

The suspension orders issued by the Kerala government against two IAS officers, Gopalakrishnan and Prashanth, cite violations of service rules and serious indiscipline, alleging that the former's action sowed disunity within the All India Service Cadre, while the latter's conduct undermined the public image of the state’s administrative machinery. PTI