Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

IAS officer suspended in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to suspend IAS officer K. Suresh Kumar from service in view of his open criticism of the functioning of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that the decision was in view of the seriousness of the issue. The officer had raised baseless allegations about the functioning of his office.

“The State government officers have their freedom in their activities for the good of the State. But, is it right to air open criticism?” he asked, and said the Chief Secretary would be in charge of the inquiry. (The Chief Secretary has asked Mr. Suresh Kumar, Managing Director of the State Cooperative Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, to explain his conduct within 15 days.) Media reports had said that Rajendran, private secretary to the Chief Minister, and his political secretary K.N. Balagopal had alleged at the CPI (M) State committee meeting that a caucus, which included Mr. Suresh Kumar, was influencing the Chief Minister. Mr. Suresh Kumar was apparently replying to that criticism in his comments to the media.

Asked about those reports, Mr. Achuthanandan said that he did not think that his private secretary had made such a statement at the meeting. He thought that CPI (M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had denied the reports.

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