Nobody told me which law I violated: IAS officer suspended for searching Modi’s chopper

Mohammad Mohsin, the IAS officer suspended for checking Modi’s helicopter, says the EC never sought his version of events before suspending him.

IAS officer Mohammed Mohsin (right) was suspended by EC for checking PM Modi's chopper in Odisha | Twitter

New Delhi: Mohammad Mohsin, the IAS officer who was suspended for checking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter, has alleged that the Election Commission of India (EC) did not seek his version on the sequence of events before suspending him.

“We are supposed to be the eyes and ears of the Election Commission…Yet, the EC acted on the district administration’s inputs, and did not seek my views,” Mohsin told ThePrint Friday, a day after his suspension was revoked by the poll panel following a stay on it from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

The officer was posted in Odisha on election duty when he was suspended on 16 April after checking the Prime Minister Modi’s helicopter at the state’s Sambalpur town.

In his application to CAT, Mohsin has alleged that the EC action was “high-handed, mala fide and is not in good faith”.

“In their order on my suspension, not in one place has it been mentioned under which section or rule I have been suspended,” he told ThePrint. “I have no friends or enemies in any political party… I only go by rules, so I should at least be told which rule I have violated.

“But despite repeated requests, I got no reply from the EC,” Mohsin said, adding that he had appealed against the EC’s order on 23 April but has got no response yet.

Deputy Election Commissioner Dharmendra Sharma, on the basis of whose 32-page page report the EC suspended the officer, approached him for a response only after the action was taken, Mohsin alleged.

EC asks Karnataka to take action

While EC revoked his suspension, it barred him from election duty and advised the Karnataka government to take disciplinary action against him.

In his application to CAT, which gave the 1996-batch Karnataka cadre officer some relief, it has been argued, “If the officer videographed the helicopter from a distance, the same ought to have been appreciated as the Prime Minister is also a politician and is not above the law.”

While he refused to comment on the application, Mohsin said he had ordered that the PM’s helicopter be videographed but left for other electioneering work right after.

Asked if he fears being cornered by the BJP government at the centre after his action, Mohsin said, “In my 22 years of service, I have never even got a showcause notice from the government. I have always followed rules, and will continue to do that.”

EC had suspended the officer for allegedly violating the poll body’s instructions on SPG protectees.

Staying his suspension, however, CAT said that during an election process while reasonable assurances of protection and security must be made available to SPG protectees, it cannot be said that “they are eligible for anything and everything”.