You can bend any rule if you have the right kind of political connection. Nothing will come in your way; no government norm can limit your growth, not even if you are retired, no matter how old you are. The story of retired IAS officer Sheik Pareeth (IAS:2000:KL) provides a unique example of it. He was rehabilitated as Managing Director of the Kerala State Coastal Area Development Corporation (KSCADC) after retirement in 2018 and has continuously been granted extension after extension.
There has been a fashion of former bureaucrats heading the public sector undertakings, but Pareeth seems to have broken all records in grabbing extensions despite the fact that the maximum age limit for an MD of a public sector institution is 65 and Pareeth is 67 now. And just for the sake of granting him an extension, the state government has repeatedly revised this term in his case. The government has extended his tenure for a record seventh time ‘at his request’.
He lapped up the seventh extension through his letter to Minister Saji Cherian, in which Pareeth claimed that KSCADC is moving forward with various projects, and if he relinquishes office from the post of MD, the implementation of all these projects will be jeopardized. Following it, the state cabinet decided to extend his tenure for yet another year through an order issued on December 19.
Pareeth first took charge as MD in 2018 but continues to occupy that position, with his term of service being extended every year.
It only reflects how strong a bond he maintains with the political dispensation that the government relaxed the norm to give him numerous extensions. He has been sitting in the post since 2018, after his retirement from the service.
His tenure was extended five times before August 22, 2023, when the corporation forwarded a request to the government to extend his tenure a sixth time. This latest extension is his seventh.
Interestingly, the government had even come up with a policy to fix the upper age limit of Managing Directors (MDs) and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of government-controlled autonomous bodies and the PSUs at 65 years. But nothing doing. When his file seeking an extension was forwarded to the government, the matter had to be referred to the Chief Minister, but the CM also decided to waive off the age criterion and give him a further extension for one more year.
Interestingly, the finance department, which usually raises objections to decisions that are in violation of the rules and which cause additional burden to the state exchequer, cleared the file, citing the clearance given by the CM.
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