THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an act smacking of vengeance, the state government has cancelled good service entry for an officer who shared, under the Right To Information Act, the revenue department files related to the controversial tree felling order. Hundreds of trees were cut from assigned land across the state on the basis of an amendment to the Kerala Forest Rules in October last till February, when it was withdrawn after protests.
Principal secretary (revenue) A Jayathilak on Thursday issued an order cancelling the good service entry of deputy secretary (revenue) Salini O G, citing that the officer's integrity is doubtful. “Facts that have been brought to the light subsequently from a preliminary inquiry and examination of certain files clearly show that her integrity is not beyond doubt,” it said.
Interestingly, the principal secretary (revenue) had on April 1 said in an order, while giving her a good service entry, that there was a huge number of pending posts and files in the section which could not be processed by three assistants when she joined the department. “With her relentless effort, the pendency has been reduced and now the function of the section has become smooth. She takes earnest efforts in complying with the direction of judgements within the time limit. She was an inspiration, the right guide and good superior officer for the assistants as a section officer,” it had said.
Two shunted out earlier
Salini was forced to go on two months' leave on July 7, reportedly after being admonished by the higher-ups. Two additional secretaries who had raised objections to the October 24 order were shunted out of the department earlier. One of them, Girija Kumari G, had written a strong note against issuing the order.
Citing legal points and existing rules, the officer had written in the file that issuing such an order would not be in conformity with the law, and the department should wait for a legal opinion from the additional advocate general. The department, however, ignored these observations and issued the order on the basis of instructions from former revenue minister E Chandrasekharan.
