Kerala govt probe into email leak boomerangs, with CMO caught in breach of IT Act

Call it a probe into a probe… but when the Kerala chief minister’s office [CMO] ordered an investigation into a suspected leak of a confidential e-mail from the World Bank to the state’s agriculture department, regarding a Rs 2,366 crore project on climate resistant agro-value enhancement [KERA], it unearthed more than it bargained for. 

The probe, led by senior IAS officer B. Ashok, principal secretary for agriculture, was specifically aimed to uncover how information reached the press that Rs 140 crore, part of the first tranche released by the World Bank, was allegedly diverted for non-designated uses.

But instead of finding culprits within the agriculture department, Ashok’s report revealed that it was chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office that had illegally accessed a password-protected mail to the agriculture department — without the knowledge or authorisation of agriculture minister P. Prasad!

Only four designated officers had legal access to that communication. The probe described the move as a violation of standing orders and possibly of the Information Technology Act.

The report concluded that the leak did not originate from within the agriculture department at all — but rather from the very office that initiated the probe, the CMO.

This left the government in an embarrassing position, with the agriculture minister now tasked with deciding what action to take — against the state’s highest executive office.

The controversy began when local media reported the alleged fund diversion, prompting the government’s public relations office to submit a note to K.M. Abraham, the chief minister’s principal secretary, blaming six major media houses.

A probe was ordered to trace the journalists’ sources. This attempt to ‘chase the leak’, however, has now drawn sharp criticism, with advocates of freedom of the press calling it an intimidation tactic.

The International Press Institute has written directly to CM Vijayan, urging him to refrain from targeting journalists performing their duty. The backlash has united journalists across the state and drawn attention nationally and internationally.

Meanwhile, the state government finds itself cornered. It can either dismiss the findings and call for a new probe — possibly through the finance department — or allow the police to investigate.

For the CPI’s agriculture minister, the issue is particularly awkward.

As a member of a coalition partner in the ruling LDF, any move to act on the findings could deepen rifts within the alliance and raise questions about governance transparency and political accountability.