Overview
- Kerala’s chief secretary suspended Dr B. Ashok under Rule 7(2), which bars civil servants from speaking to media or posting on social platforms without approval.
- Ashok called the order a vendetta and a badge of honour, said he will not rush to court, and signaled he expects a new government to rescind it.
- He alleged the Left Democratic Front used public and Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board borrowing to run a large publicity drive, naming a Mumbai PR contract of Rs 130 crore as part of it.
- He also accused a group of retired and senior officials of exerting outsized control in government, singling out KIIFB chief K. M. Abraham as an external power centre.
- Past tribunal rulings that set aside multiple transfers and an Election Commission rejection of a complaint about his media comments frame a continuing clash that could shape future postings and what Kerala officials feel safe to say in public.