CAT defers transfer of IAS officer

Exposes power struggle within Kerala IAS cadre and delivers a setback to Pinarayi govt

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IN a major setback for the state government, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Tuesday stayed till September 22 the transfer of principal secretary B Ashok to the personal and administrative department (P&ARD). This is the second time in eight days that the tribunal's Ernakulam bench is staying the senior bureaucrat's transfer. Ashok can now stay on in agriculture department.

The CAT intervention-coming just days after Ashok rejoined the agriculture department following the tribunal's stay of an earlier government order appointing him as chairman of the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC) - has not only brought the simmering power struggle within the state's IAS cadre into the open, but also delivered a major blow to the state government and plunged Chief Secretary A Jayathilak deeper into the controversy.