KOCHI; A writ petition was filed on Monday in the Kerala High Court challenging Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran's directive to Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan to remove the board secretary V.S.Jayakumar.
In his petition, Jayakumar said that the government had no supervisory or other jurisdiction over the Devaswom Board. It was an autonomous body. The letter sent by the Minister was bad in law. He also pointed out that the petitioner had been recommended for the post of the Devaswom commissioner. The recommendation was pending approval by the High Court. In fact, the Minister had issued the directive at the instance of the Travancore Devaswom Board Employees Confederation. This union was trying to prevent the petitioner from being appointed as the Commissioner, he alleged. The Minister dashed off the letter urging the Devaswom President to remove the secretary, citing corruption charges against him.
Eom.
