Senkumar, Loknath Behera and Jacob Thomas. File photosThiruvananthapuram: Nalini Netto had a surprise visitor on October 18 when she was the state's home secretary. Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) director Jacob Thomas handed over a letter to Netto, who was also in charge of the Chief Minister's Office, asking to be relieved of his position.
Thomas had cited personal reasons but the real provocation was an allegation that he had presided over a scam of Rs 15 crore during his stint as the ports department director. The report by the economic affairs department was the handiwork of a coterie of IAS officers, Thomas suggested.
Thomas's request was not granted. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan would not let him throw in the towel yet. However, the equation was to change five months down the line. Unable to cope with the pressure, Vijayan himself asked the VACB director to go on leave.
The year-old Left Democratic Front government painted itself into a corner when it aligned with a belligerent party in a bitter fight between the officers. Vijayan was so exasperated at a stage that he famously asked the chief secretary if the bureaucrat thought he was a notch above the chief minister himself.
One of the first decisions of the government was to replace police chief T.P. Senkumar. The director general of police is back at the helm after the Supreme Court ordered in his favor. Signals from the police headquarters are not very encouraging. The new chief is accused of orchestrating a purge against the wishes of the political establishment.
The government is struggling to hold together the administration as disgruntled officers try to secure deputations with the central government. The numerous advisers are of no help either.
The shuffle that ended in a scuffle
What caused the rift between the government and the bureaucratic elite? The genesis of the problem was the replacement of Senkumar with Loknath Behera on May 30, 2016. Jacob Thomas replaced Shankar Reddy as the director of the VACB.
Senkumar wasted no time in challenging the week-old government's order in a court. Senkumar is not Behera. "If the government feels that only Behera can work with it, so be it. I can't be Behera for sure," he said.
The government was to rub the IAS officers the wrong way on September 15, when VACB sleuths arrested Malabar Cements managing director Padmakumar.
The report by the economic affairs department against the VACB chief was not coincidental. The IAS officers had decided to strike back. Thomas even filed a complaint with the police chief on October 22 that his phone was being tapped.
The raid conducted by the VACB at the house of finance secretary K.M. Abraham was the last straw. Thomas said he was not aware of the raid but the IAS officers' association refused to buy the argument. Abraham met the chief minister and the chief secretary with a complaint. The association followed up with its own petition.
The chief minister was forced to intervene in the battle of the officers multiple times. A staff in the Chief Minister's Office even commented that the only thing the office did nowadays was to act as a mediator in the fight.
Vijayan tried to cool the situation by saying that both Thomas and Abraham were excellent officers and the government was viewing Abraham's complaint seriously. The chief minister admitted of some lapses but was not ready to disown the VACB director yet.
There were big guns who wanted Jacob Thomas out of the VACB. Don't even try to smoke him out, Vijayan said.
Renewed hostilities
Just when the chief minister thought he had the situation under control, the accountants general put out a report accusing Thomas of corruption related to the ports. Thomas fought back by registering a case of disproportionate assets against labor department secretary Tom Jose, who is also the president of the IAS officers' association. The VACB raided Jose's houses in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
The IAS officers threatened to go on leave en masse on January 7 in protest of the VACB director's targeted attacks. The chief minister stood his ground and forced the officers to withdraw the strike but the movement of files in the secretariat had already reached a snail's pace.
The VACB was under further pressure when the High Court put forward a blunt question: Was the state being ruled by the VACB? The court lambasted the VACB, prompting the officers to put up a comical announcement at the headquarters that major complaints would not be entertained anymore. The notice was later removed but the government was in a spot.
The government was put on the defensive when Thomas was forced to go on leave from April 1. Thomas said he was on leave as per directions from the top but some observers think that the court remarks might have prompted him to stay away from work. The opposition flayed the government in any case.
A year into the office, the Pinarayi Vijayan government is back to square one. Thomas is out but Senkumar is in. The government could have done without the severe criticism it attracted from the court when it tried to defer the reinstatement of Senkumar. The government had to issue an apology.
Senkumar is expected to retire on July 30 but he has packed enough punch to make the term embarrassing for the government, judging by his initial reforms.
