CAT verdict prompts transfer of 2 controversial Kerala civil servants; Ajith Kumar & B Ashok

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) verdict on March 6 has forced the LDF government to make two kinds of decisions on Friday; one seemingly reverential and the other, seemingly vengeful.

The reverential move was the sacking of Additional Director General of Police M R Ajith Kumar as Excise Commissioner. The CAT had ruled on March 6 that IPS officers cannot hold the post of the Excise Commissioner. 

Even then, the respect shown to the CAT by removing Ajith Kumar could be just a facade. Despite the CAT's stern orders, Ajith Kumar has been replaced by another IPS officer: J Kishore Kumar, who now serves as Additional Excise Commissioner (Administration). 

A top source said that this could not be technically considered a contempt of the CAT order as Kishore Kumar has no been appointed as Excise Commissioner. He has only been told to temporarily take over the duties of the Excise Commissioner till a new Commissioner is appointed.

Act of vengeance
The apparently vindictive move was the removal of B Ashok as Agriculture Principal Secretary and Agriculture Production Commissioner. 

The CAT's order censuring the way the LDF government played around with civil servants was based on Ashok's petition. Besides prohibiting the posting of IPS officers as Excise Commissioner, the CAT had also laid down that IAS officers should not be transferred without convening the Civil Services Board (CSB) and before they completed a minimum tenure of two years in a post.

Ashok, who had served for nearly four years as Agriculture Principal Secretary, has now been posted as Principal Secretary in charge of both Sainik Welfare and Youth and Sports Affairs departments. Here, too, it is not clear whether the CSB's recommendation has been taken, as has been mandated by the CAT, before transferring him.

Ashok, while holding the post of Agriculture Principal Secretary, was transferred and posted as the Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) on February 7, 2023. Before he could complete a minimum tenure of two years, he was transferred on January 9, 2025, to the Local Self Government Department and, without even asking his consent as is required by law, was told to occupy a freshly created post called Local Self Government Reforms Commission.

Ashok moved the CAT and secured an interim stay. In August, even while the interim order was in place, he was served another transfer order. This time as Chairman and Managing Director of Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation. He got the CAT to stay this transfer, too. 

A month later, on September 15, the CAT stay still in operation, an order was issued transferring and posting Ashok as Principal Secretary, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department.

None of these transfer orders was made after securing the nod of the CSB. The March 6 CAT order nullified all these transfer orders. Nonetheless, the order did not restrain the government from transferring Ashok from his current post if he had served the minimum tenure of two years. 

Encroachment into IAS domain
As for the Excise Commissioner post, it was given to IPS officers ever since the first Pinarayi Ministry came to power in 2016. The government argued before the CAT that it was not a post included in the IAS (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Regulations, 1955. 

Further, it was said that the functions of the Excise Department involved prevention, detection and investigation of serious offences, all of which were closely associated with the Police. Therefore, it was contended that a senior police officer was more suited to function as Excise Commissioner. 

However, the CAT found that the Excise Commissioner had other functions like administration and collection of revenue, that did not sit well with the functions of the police. Further, the Excise Commissioner comes under the Taxes Department. 

The CAT also noted that before 2016, when Rishiraj Singh IPS was appointed the Excise Commissioner, the post was held exclusively by IAS officers. In fact, the first Excise Commissioner was John Mathai IAS.

Moreover, the post of Excise Commissioner is not included in the IPS (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Regulations, 1955. There is a Transport Commissioner in the list, not an Excise Commissioner. 

Ajith Kumar was removed from the post of Battalion ADGP and made Excise Commissioner last July after the High Court had passed adverse remarks against him for violating a court order and using a Kerala Police tractor to travel along the Sabarimala Swami Ayyappan Road. 

By then Ajith Kumar had already become a liability for the LDF government when it was revealed that he held a secret meeting with RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale. When the Thrissur Pooram was disrupted in 2024, Ajith Kumar, who was then ADGP (Law and Order), was accused of engineering the chaos for the benefit of the BJP. 

The top cop's apparent closeness to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had intensified the perception that the CPM had an under the table agreement with the BJP.