Thiruvananthapuram: In response to the charge memo issued by the Chief Secretary, former Agriculture Department special secretary N Prasanth has sent back a letter containing seven questions. The primary query in the letter highlights why he was not given an opportunity to present his side of the story before suspension proceedings were initiated. Prasanth was suspended for criticising Additional Chief Secretary A Jayathilak and Industries Department director K Gopalakrishnan.

Instead of providing a response to the Chief Secretary's memo, Prasanth has reportedly sought clarification through his letter. He has questioned why the government issued the memo on its own when neither Jayathilak nor Gopalakrishnan had filed a complaint against him. Prasanth submitted the letter seeking explanations to the government on December 16.

Prasanth received the memo on December 9, which, as per legal procedures, requires a response within 30 days. However, instead of replying directly, Prasanth sent a letter containing seven questions to Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan. The key allegation in the suspension order was that Prasanth attempted to tarnish the reputation of the administrative system by insulting a senior IAS officer.

The questions raised by Prasanth include why the memo was issued without a complainant, who provided evidence against him, why his side of the story was not heard before suspension, from which Facebook account, the evidence against him was gathered, and whether the authenticity of that Facebook account was investigated.

Last week, Prasanth had also issued a legal notice to Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan, alleging inaction despite informing her of the illegal activities done by Jayathilak and Gopalakrishnan against him. He alleged that Jayathilak had reported missing files and tampered attendance related to the SC-ST Department's 'Unnathi' project when Prasanth was in charge. Following this Prasanth posted critical remarks against Jayathilak on social media.

The suspensions of Prasanth and Industries Department director K Gopalakrishnan were based on a report by the Chief Secretary. The key findings against Prasanth included making comments which were damaging to the administrative system's reputation. The suspension report on Gopalakrishnan mentioned his attempts to create communal polarisation among IAS officers.