The Home Department has raised doubts about the veracity of a letter purportedly sent by the State of Tamil Nadu requesting the Kerala government to grant one of its employees in Kerala an official pass to enter the Secretariat at will.
Officials said the “letter” has also raised eyebrows in the State police. Its intelligence wing had in early April “blacklisted” the same person, an official attached to the Public Relations Department of the Tamil Nadu government, on the charge that he had “illegally sought and procured information in advance” on Kerala’s stance on a range of key inter-State matters, including its water sharing disputes with Tamil Nadu.
The confidential report had elaborated how the 48-year-old man had in the past four years enjoyed unrestricted access to the Government Secretariat and used the privilege to create a “favour bank” among certain officials in key departments.
The police had sent the confidential report as a “warning and advisory” to the government to insulate it from any “potential loss of legal advantage” in judicial forums presiding over inter-State disputes.
The government subsequently restricted the man’s entry into the Secretariat.
Questions asked
But its senior functionaries asked the police why he was “not questioned or his statement recorded”.
The police responded that its communication to the government was in the nature of an intelligence advisory and not First Information Report.
It also told the Home Department that so far there was no evidence “that would stand scrutiny in a court of law” to suggest the man had accessed official secrets.
However, this did not mean that his “influence in the Secretariat” had granted “certain advantages” to the Tamil Nadu government in some disputes, senior police officials said. So far, the State government has not acted on the “letter”. Officials said the Tamil Nadu government was yet to confirm whether it had sent the letter or not.
In the wake of the controversies surrounding the entry of dubious persons into the Government Secretariat, the State Police Special Branch has decided to create a “security client chart” for better scrutiny of visitors to the key facility. Officials said “every person with a warrant against him or her” would figure in the chart.
The digitised crime information repository of the State police would also be linked to the latest visitor management systems (VMS) to be installed at the Secretariat.
