IAS officers protest against victimisation
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — The elite Indian Administration Service (IAS) officers in Kerala have expressed concern over cases being charged against them for the decisions of the government time to time saying it would affect their morale.
Representatives of the IAS Officers Association submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy yesterday protesting against the recent decision for prosecuting four officers in a case of illegally awarding land to kin by former chief minister V S Achuthanandan.
They appealed the chief minister to exclude Sheila Thomas, who was the principal secretary of Achuthanandan, K R Muraleedharan, the then Land Revenue Commissioner, and former Kasaragod district collectors Anand Singh and Krishnan Kutty from the case.
The officers felt that the Vigilance cases go on for years which affects the career of those in civil service, including their promotions and key postings. They have also formed a subcommittee to provide legal aid to those who currently face prosecution.
According to the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau (VACB), which registered the case, the former chief minister awarded 2.3 acres of land in Kasaragod to his close relative T K Soman with the help of officers who obeyed instructions from his office. Achuthanandan is the key defendant in the case.
Chandy had earlier made it clear that he was against victimisation of officers for decisions that the political leadership of the time takes. Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas, widely respected for his honesty and integrity, had to resign after it was revealed that he stands accused in the palm oil import scam.
The charges vary from criminal conspiracy (CRPC 120B), cheating and dishonesty inducing delivery of property (CRPC 420) to causing disappearance of evidence of offence (CRPC 201). The VACB has also invoked provisions in the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.
Former revenue minister and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader K P Rajendran is the accused number two in the case. Achuthanandan’s personal assistant Suresh and the beneficiary of the land largesse also stand accused in the case.
Meanwhile, the Assembly panel looking into the allegations against his son V A Arun Kumar, served a notice on Achuthanandan and former education minister M A Baby to appear before it on February 14 after they repeatedly failed to respond to its requests.
Kerala Legislative Assembly Secretary P D Rajan met the former chief minister here and handed over the notice. Kumar and other officials at the Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD), where he works as its deputy director, had deposed before the panel earlier.
The committee is probing allegations of misuse of power and undue promotions against as the deputy director and his appointment as director of the Information Communication Technology Academy when his father was in power.
The panel is also looking into other allegations such as funds allotted to the Academy and funds provided to SPACE, an institute formed by his friends.
Speaker G Karthikeyan had announced formation of the committee on July 12 last year, following allegations raised by Congress party legislator PC Vishnunath in the Assembly.
The issue was first raised by R S Sasikumar, a former joint registrar of the Kerala University, based on the information he acquired through a Right to Information (RTI) query. There was also a mention that the salary of the director of ICT Academy should be equivalent to the salary of the CEO of Technopark (Rs150,000).