Thiruvananthapuram: The Keralam government has appointed IAS officer S Karthikeyan as the new Excise Commissioner, days after removing Seeram Sambasiva Rao from the post amid the controversy over the granting of bar licences.

Karthikeyan, who returns from leave, has been posted as Special Secretary, Water Resources Department. He will also hold the additional charges of Excise Commissioner and Special Secretary, Housing Department, according to a government order issued as part of a reshuffle of senior IAS officers on Thursday.

Sharmila gets additional charge of KTDFC
In other changes, the government assigned additional responsibilities to several senior officers. Sharmila Mary Joseph, Principal Secretary, Transport Department, will hold the additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director of the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC). She was recently shifted from the Health Department to the Transport Department.

N Prashanth, Chairman and Managing Director of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), has been given the additional charge of Special Secretary, Zoos, Museums, Archaeology and Archives Department.

M G Rajamanickam, Secretary, Local Self Government Department, will additionally serve as Executive Director of Information Kerala Mission (IKM). He was recently moved from the KSEB to the Local Self Government Department.

T V Subhash, who was earlier transferred as Managing Director of the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL), will continue as Special Secretary, Agriculture Department. He will also hold the additional charges of Director, Samoohika Sannadhasena, and Chairperson, Social Audit Society.

Devidas N, who was serving as Director of Employment and Training, has been transferred as Director, Local Self Government Department (Rural). He will also hold the additional charges of CEO, LIFE Mission, and Managing Director, IMPACT Kerala.

The reshuffle also assigns Abdul Nasar B the additional charge of Special Secretary, Parliamentary Affairs Department, while Rahul Krishna Sharma will additionally serve as Director of Employment and Training. Mithun Premraj has been given the additional charge of Executive Director, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).

Bar licence controversy results in Rao's ouster
Karthikeyan's appointment comes after Seeram Sambasiva Rao was removed as Excise Commissioner last week following a controversy over the granting of bar licences.

The dispute centred on licences granted to three beer parlours in Muvattupuzha, Kochi and Pala after applications to upgrade them into bars were considered. Two excise officials, P K Satish and P L Shibu, were suspended over the issuance of the licences.

Although Sambasiva Rao's report found that the licences had been granted in accordance with existing norms, Excise Minister M Liju disagreed with its findings. The controversy intensified after Rao defended the decision to grant licences to two bars inside the Nedumbassery airport lounge.

Rao said the provision for granting FL-7 licences was introduced through a law enacted during the UDF government's tenure in 2011 and that he had merely followed the existing rules. He submitted a detailed explanation to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Tax Department after documents related to the bar licences were published in the media.

The issue also escalated into a political row, with the UDF and LDF trading blame. Liju rejected Rao's explanation as incomplete, saying it failed to address several key questions. The minister directed the Additional Chief Secretary to seek a detailed report from the commissioner. He had also criticised Rao for sharing details of the report with the media before submitting it to the government.