Thiruvananthapuram: Less than two months after coming to power, another key appointment cleared by the V.D. Satheesan-led Congress government in Kerala has landed in controversy, with a KPCC functionary questioning the appointment of retired district judge N. Sheshadrinathan as State Election Commissioner.
A retired Principal District and Sessions Judge in Kavaratti (Lakshadweep), Sheshadrinathan is currently serving as judge of the Family Court, Irinjalakuda. Before this, he had also worked as the Special Judge for the CBI and National Investigation Agency in Kochi, and in various other courts in the State. A former State president of the Kerala Judicial Officers’ Association, he was elected vice-president of the All India Judicial Officers’ Association in July 2024.
A native of Kozhikode, Sheshadrinathan is currently based in Ernakulam district. The State Cabinet on 24 June decided to appoint him the State Election Commissioner. The Cabinet also decided to appoint Bishwanath Sinha as the state’s Chief Secretary.
However, the decision to appoint Sheshadrinathan as the State Election Commissioner drew protest from within the Congress, with KPCC General Secretary PM Niyas questioning the rationale behind the appointment, alleging the district judge has Sangh Parivar affiliation.
Niyas met Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Monday seeking a review of the appointment and inquiry into the official’s background.
Talking to ThePrint afterwards, Niyas said Sheshadrinathan was his classmate at Kozhikode Law College in the late 1980s and was then a Student Federation of India (SFI) functionary. SFI is the students wing of the CPI(M).
“Later, we became lawyers around the same time and practised in the same court for around 10 years. I knew him since then and he was a CPI(M) member then. Later, he became a magistrate. He is a good friend of mine, a good academician and jurist. I have no problem with that,” Niyas said.
But his objection, Niyas said, to the appointment stems from the fact that Sheshadrinathan is the office-bearer of Bharatheeya Abhibhashaka Parishad, an association of lawyers affiliated with the Sangh Parivar. Niyas also alleged that this affiliation had also resulted in his posting to Lakshadweep.
Located nearly 500 km off the Kerala coast, Lakshadweep is a Union Territory with a majority Muslim population. However, the UT has witnessed several controversies and stand-offs between locals and the administration after the Union government appointed former Gujarat BJP MLA Praful Khodabhai Patel as its administrator in 2020.
Niyas said the post of State Election Commissioner is a political one, and not a promotional post for a judge, and only needs to be held by a government official. He alleged that appointing a Sangh Parivar-affiliated official as the State Election Commissioner would only help the BJP in implementing its agenda in the state, including during the proposed delimitation exercise.
Niyas said neither he nor the party was informed about the criteria on which Sheshadrinathan was considered for the post.
ThePrint reached out to the State committee of Bharatheeya Abhibhashaka Parishad and K.B. Sreekumar, the Joint Provincial Secretary of the RSS. Both declined to comment. Sreekumar, however, said Sheshadrinathan is associated with the organisation.
Lawyers based in Ernakulam also said that Sheshadrinathan is affiliated with the Sangh Parivar, though they added it was difficult to infer such an affiliation from his judgments.
Sheshadrinathan told ThePrint that he is “powerless” to speak to the press as he is still a judge.
“I am still an obedient judicial officer under the Kerala High Court. Hence I have limitations to brief the press,” he said.
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A correction from within
Sheshadrinathan’s appointment is the latest controversy related to appointments made by the newly elected UDF government, led by the Congress.
Soon after assuming office, the UDF government appointed K.B. Pradeep as Special Government Pleader for the Travancore and Cochin Devaswom Boards before the Kerala High Court.
However, the Opposition criticised the appointment, as Pradeep had previously represented Smart Creations, a Chennai-based company accused in the high-profile Sabarimala gold theft case. Amid criticism, Pradeep stepped down within days of his appointment.
Similarly, the Congress-led government also came under attack from the Opposition after former State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rathan U. Kelkar was appointed Secretary to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan.
A 2003-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, Kelkar’s appointment drew criticism from the CPI(M) and BJP, as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had earlier slammed the appointment of the former West Bengal CEO as Chief Secretary there after the BJP’s victory in the recent Assembly election.
In the run up to the polls, the Election Commission had come under criticism after the seal of the BJP’s Kerala unit appeared on an official Election Commission communication to political parties. The Commission later termed it a “clerical error”.
However, Satheesan defended Kelkar’s appointment, saying the situation in Kerala and West Bengal could not be compared.
While criticism over the previous appointments came from the Opposition LDF, the latest controversy also assumes significance as it came from within the Congress.
Niyas said that under both the previous LDF government and the Oommen Chandy government, similar appointments were made after consulting the party, which was not the case this time.
“Usually, the government would be seeking an NOC or an intelligence report before appointing someone, with the concurrence of the party. Had that happened, any minister would have been able to inquire about it,” Niyas said, adding that he was trying to correct the mistake as a KPCC functionary.
According to him, the file regarding Sheshadrinathan’s appointment has not yet been sent to the government.
On Monday, Local Self-Government Minister K.M. Shaji defended the government’s move, saying it was a collective decision made by the Cabinet, and not by the CM alone.
Shaji said Sheshadrinathan should only be judged on his professional record, not his alleged political affiliations or identity. When asked further, the minister said additional questions should be directed to the CM.
Last week, senior Congress leader VM Sudheeran publicly raised concerns about the Satheesan government’s move to reduce tax on low-alcoholic drinks in the state.
“I have said everything I had to say. If there are further questions, they should be addressed to the Chief Minister. There is nothing more for me to add, alter or retract,” Shaji told the media.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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