BABUS' FALL FROM GRACE

Bureaucrats in public spats are not a new phenomenon in Kerala, but this is the first time two IAS officers have been suspended for violating the Civil Service Code of Conduct. N. Prasanth, an IAS officer of the 2007 batch and special secretary to the agriculture department, was suspended for his public comments against A. Jayathilak, the additional chief secretary (ACS) for finance, on social media.

- Jeemon Jacob

The case against K. Gopalakrishnan, the director of industries, is a bit more serious-he is accused of fomenting enmity between brother IAS officers by creating religion-based WhatsApp groups, one called 'Hindu Mallu officers' and another tagged 'Muslim Mallu officers'.