Kerala Chief Secretary Faces Flak From Seniors And Juniors

Kerala’s Chief Secretary, A Jayathilak is facing flak for his high-handed behaviour from his IAS colleagues and state’s IPS officers. Jayathilak has come in the way of the career progression of at least three officers. Senior IAS officer, B Ashok, also principal secretary has alleged that Jayathilak refused to give him a vigilance clearance in June 2025 when he applied for deputation to the post of chief controller, VSSC, Department of Space. In his petition before the CAT, Ashok has contended that “the refusal to provide clearance despite the fact that there had not been any vigilance cases or disciplinary action against him, speaks volumes of the malice harboured by the chief secretary.” Jayathilak flagged a vigilance case regarding irregularities in the sanction of pay and allowance in the Ayush Department under Ashok. Following this, Ashok was forced to submit that the inquiry was completed and the government recommended no further action. This led to Ashok submitting a representation to the Chief Secretary to rectify his earlier statement. Interestingly, the correction was made only after the last day prescribed for submission of the application for the post in VSSC. Likewise, DGP, Yogesh Gupta who currently heads Fire and Rescue Services Department has initiated legal action against the State government for withholding a vigilance status report on him sought by Union Home Ministry for clearance for securing a post in the central service. Yogesh too has approached CAT. He has accused the government of using vigilance reports as a tool to control bureaucrats. And if this is not enough, Jayathilak has a running match with junior IAS officer, Prasanth N, who is under suspension for nearly one year, without giving proper reasons, which is against service rules. Sources say a fierce power struggle is brewing in the state’s IAS hierarchy with the tide slowly turning against Jayathilak.