The Kerala government suffered a setback on Tuesday when the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) stayed its decision to transfer senior IAS officer B Ashok. The tribunal ordered that he should continue in the Agriculture Department and said detailed arguments in his petition would be heard later.

The stay came a day after the State government issued a General Administration Department (GAD) order appointing Ashok as Principal Secretary of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&ARD), effective from September 17. 

The order was passed even as the Ernakulam Bench of the CAT was already examining Ashok’s challenge against his earlier transfer to the Kerala Transport Development and Finance Corporation (KTDFC). Earlier this month, the tribunal had stayed that transfer too, directing him to remain as Principal Secretary, Agriculture, and Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) until further orders.

Defending its actions, the government maintained that Ashok’s objections were misconceived, factually misleading and legally untenable. The same GAD order also appointed senior officer Tinku Biswal as Principal Secretary of Local Self-Governments.

The new development comes at this juncture.