Controversies surrounding key political appointments made by the Kerala government have now permeated to the district judiciary with the proposal to appoint N. Seshadrinathan, judge, Family Court, Irinjalakuda, as the State Election Commissioner (SEC) being objected to by a section of Congress leaders.
The proposal forwarded by the Local Self-Government Ministry to the Kerala Governor did not go well with some Congress leaders, who alleged that Mr. Seshadrinathan has Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) links and should not have been considered for the post.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) general secretary P.M. Niyas, who earlier protested against the recommendation of Mr. Seshadrinathan, went a step ahead on Tuesday (June 30, 2026) by meeting and petitioning Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, urging him to order an antecedents verification of Mr. Seshadrinathan, examining his political positions and relations in the past 15 years. Mr. Niyas also requested the Home Minister to share the intelligence report on Mr. Seshadrinathan with Local Self-Governments Minister K.M. Shaji.
Earlier, Mr. Niyas had written to KPCC president Sunny Joseph, with a copy to top Congress leaders, including All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Deepa Dasmunsi and Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, seeking their intervention to reconsider the proposed appointment.
A section of the party leaders is understood to have earlier pitched the name of another serving judicial officer, who had maintained close ties with the Congress during his early days as a lawyer. They also point out that the officer had served as the party’s nominee as the Vice-Chairperson of a civic body in northern Kerala during his early career.
However, sources close to the officer maintained that he was unaware of the developments and it was natural for the party leaders to discuss the names known to them for such posts.
Interestingly, the two officers were classmates at Government Law College, Kozhikode, during the early 1980s.
Mr. Seshadrinathan, who had served as the Principal Sessions Judge of Lakshadweep and Special Judge of the court for trying the cases booked by the National Investigation Agency in Kochi, refused to be drawn into the controversy and maintained that judicial officers were prohibited from media interactions. “It’s the call of the government to appoint a person of their choice to such posts and individual choices don’t matter,” he said.
Interestingly, the proposal of the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government to make Law Secretary K.G. Sanal Kumar the SEC was not accepted by the Governor. The tenure of Mr. Kumar will come to an end in August. The State government, it is understood, has so far not approached the Kerala High Court seeking either an extension of Mr. Kumar’s term as the Law Secretary or a panel of judicial officers from the State service to be appointed as the Law Secretary. Mr. Kumar will have to be repatriated to the State judiciary as a Principal Sessions Judge in the event of the government not retaining him.
The High Court, on a request from the State government, will prepare a panel of three officials after inviting applications from among the senior district judges for the government to choose a the Law Secretary. The court is yet to initiate such steps, judicial sources indicated.
The State government had earlier suffered a political embarrassment as Benny Thomas, the brother-in-law of State Minister Sunny Joseph, who was appointed as the Minister’s private secretary and K. B. Pradeep, Special Government Pleader, had to step down.
(with inputs from Thiruvananthapuram Bureau)
Published – June 30, 2026 09:02 pm IST