IAS officer challenges Jayakumar’s appointment as TDB president

Serving IAS serviceman B. Ashok has moved the District Court, Thiruvananthapuram, challenging the assignment of erstwhile Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar arsenic president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

Mr. Ashok has reportedly sought Mr. Jayakumar’s disqualification connected the grounds that the second is already holding the station of Director successful the Institute of Management successful Government (IMG), a State authorities institution.

Section 7 (iii) of the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950, notes that “no idiosyncratic shall beryllium eligible for predetermination oregon information arsenic a subordinate of the committee if specified a idiosyncratic is an office-holder oregon a servant of government.”

The State government’s determination to name Mr. Jayakumar had grabbed headlines successful November.

After helium retired from work successful 2012, Mr. Jayakumar was appointed arsenic Director of IMG successful 2018.

Mr. Jayakumar told reporters that Mr. Ashok’s petition was against the State government’s determination and that the authorities would supply an due effect with its machinery.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described Mr. Ashok’s determination to attack the tribunal arsenic thing that, nether mean circumstances, should not person happened. Mr. Vijayan was speaking astatine a meet-the-press programme successful Kochi. Mr. Jayakumar was a retired IAS serviceman and cannot beryllium considered to beryllium successful authorities work still, the Chief Minister said.

His assignment arsenic TDB president was welcomed by each including Ayyappa devotees. The committee members besides person accepted him, Mr. Vijayan said.