'Public Servants Shouldn't Be Used For Party's Obligations': Plea In Madras HC Challenges Appointment Of 4 Senior IAS Officers As Govt Spokespersons

The plea, filed by Advocate Dr M Sathya Kumar states that public servants should not be used for party's obligations. It has been submitted that by appointing the officers as government spokesperson, a role which does not have a legal definition or legislative backing, there was a risk of conflicting government communication with political messaging. It has been contended that by appointing civil servants to serve the interest of the ruling political party, the very purpose of Constitutional mandate, constitutional morality, and principles of federalism is defeated.

The plea challenges Press Release No. 1602, issued by the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Ministry for Tamil Development, Information and Publicity appointing the IAS officers to engage with media and disseminate public information. As per the press release, each IAS officer is assigned various department of the Government and all official statements relating to important achievements, schemes, developments of the concerned department would be disseminated by the officer.

It has been submitted that the government has failed to adhere to due process of law by issuing a Government Order. It has been argued that the press release is not a legally valid instrument and cannot be treated as an official act of appointment. The petitioner states that the press release is a non-binding public communication which merely reports or conveys information, achievement, etc and does not have any legislative backing. Thus, the petitioner has argued that the appointments, made by way of a press release are void ab-initio, unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary.

Case Title: Dr. M Sathya Kumar v. The Government of Tamil Nadu and Others