CAT stays Kerala govt order appointing IAS officer B Ashok as KTDFC chairman

Thiruvananthapuram: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Tuesday stayed the state government order to appoint IAS officer B Ashok as the Chairman of the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC). Ashok, who currently serves as the Principal Secretary of the Agriculture Department, will continue in that role.

Earlier in August, the General Administration Department had issued an order appointing him as the Chairman and Managing Director of KTDFC. However, Ashok challenged the decision at the CAT, citing legal issues with the appointment order.

Following the government's move, Ashok applied for leave. He will rejoin duty on September 15.

In January 2025, the government issued an order appointing him as the chairman of the Local Self Government Reforms Commission, and he was transferred from his post as Agricultural Production Commissioner & Principal Secretary (Agriculture). 

Ashok challenged this order in the CAT. The tribunal, in an interim order, directed the Kerala government to allow the official to continue in his post with the Department of Agriculture. Later, the tribunal also set aside the state government's order. 

When he was transferred as the chairman of the LSG reforms commission, he had contended that his deputation order was issued without his consent. The CAT, even while allowing his petition, however, had noted that the choice of an individual is exclusively that of the executive.  

The CAT noted that the power to depute an IAS officer for a post can be exercised only by the Union government with the consent of the applicant, and since the state government purportedly exercised the power, the order was legally not sustainable.