Kerala govt officials suspended over fake certificate row back on duty

Kochi: The Industries Department, which suspended two senior officials last December over allegations of securing promotions using fake certificates, has reinstated them in the same posts.

The reinstatement order, issued by the Principal Secretary of the Industries Department, comes even as the probe led by Annie Jula Thomas, Officer on Special Duty, remains incomplete. The officials reintated in their posts are S Shyam, Deputy Director of the Common Facility Service Centre, Changanassery, and P R Shan, Assistant Director (Rubber), Manjeri. Although the order was issued on September 13, no official has resumed duty yet.

Both are office-bearers of the Left-backed KGOA and are accused of producing forged certificates claiming to have passed a test conducted by IIT Kharagpur. The inquiry, which was directed to be completed within two months, was dragged on for nearly 10 months without conclusion.

The order noted that the suspension was being revoked “in a manner that does not affect the ongoing investigation.”

However, more than 100 days after suspension, no charge memo or formal communication had been served. They highlighted this delay as a point in their favour in a petition filed before the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT).

In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that prolonged suspensions without timely proceedings amounted to a denial of justice. Drawing from this, the KAT directed the government to take a decision within a month, leading to the reinstatement.

Meanwhile, allegations have emerged that the inquiry report is being deliberately delayed due to political pressure. The complaint was originally filed by M S Sanu, another official in the Industries Department, who submitted documents obtained under the Right to Information Act to show that the certificates were fake.