IPS officer Jacob Thomas who was suspended by the Kerala government has been reinstated by the Central Administrative Tribunal. Thomas was first suspended in December (2017) for making a speech against corruption on International Anti-Corruption Day.
Kochi: The Central Administrative Tribunal has ordered the immediate reinstatement of IPS Jacob Thomas and said continuous suspension of the IPS officer was not appropriate. Reports state that this new order has put the LDF government on the backfoot.
Social activist Rupesh Chirakkal said, “Many orders have come in the last few days but in the end, they are not be heeded to as the LDF chooses to change the decision at the last moment. Likewise, this order may also not come to pass”.
Thomas was first suspended in December (2017) for making a speech against corruption on International Anti-Corruption Day. He was then suspended again in March (2018) for writing two innocuous books in Malayalam, an autobiography and one on capacity building in governance. He has been banned from travelling abroad, and not permitted to visit his daughter who lives in Muscat.
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Following this Thomas approached the Centre and they passed an order in his favour. The Centre also agreed to Jacob's argument that he was being targeted for revenge.
According to sources, Jacob Thomas was a close aide of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government came to power. Thomas had then raised many allegations against the UDF government. This turned out to be beneficial to the LDF in their election campaign. The LDF came to power and appointed Thomas to a senior post. But Thomas later accused EP Jayarajan of nepotism and filed a case against him. EP Jayarajan is one of the close aides of Pinarayi Vijayan. Then the state government dismissed Thomas from the post of VACB director.
Regarding the new order, Thomas said he is happy, and stated that the judiciary is functioning well. He added that the new order is a message to those in service to speak about the corruption and trust that the judiciary will support them. He also said that the solution to corruption is to raise your voice.
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