The Kerala government on Monday suspended IAS officer Gopalakrishnan for alleged conduct violations. Gopalakrishnan is accused of creating a religion-based WhatsApp group. Gopalakrishnan had created a WhatsApp group called "Mallu Hindu Officers".

The suspension order said the government believed the WhatsApp group was aimed at creating divisions, sowing discord and breaking unity among the All India Services cadres in the state.

The order further said that the act of the officer was prima facie found to be creating “communal structure and factionalism within the cadres of All India Services”

What argument did the suspended officer give?

Gopalakrishnan's defence on the allegation was that his mobile phone was hacked and someone else created these WhatsApp groups and made him the admin of two WhatsApp groups - Mallu Hindu Officers and Mallu Muslim Officers - without his consent. However, his plea was rejected.  

The police also found that Gopalakrishnan had factory reset the mobile phone several times before submitting the device for forensic examination.

Only Hindu officers were included in the group

The controversy dates back to October 31. Several Kerala cadre IAS officers were unexpectedly added to a WhatsApp group called Mallu Hindu Officers. This group consisted of only Hindu officers. Many officers considered this group a violation of secular values. However, the group was deleted two days later.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided to suspend the officer based on the report of Chief Secretary Sharada Muraleedharan.