BENGALURU: The issue of Karnataka cadre IAS officer, Mohammad Mohsin, ordering a search of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter, during an election rally at Sambalpur in Odisha has taken a new turn.
After the Bengaluru bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal passed a status-quo order regarding disciplinary action recommended against Mohsin, the Election Commission of India has moved the Karnataka High Court, questioning the CAT order.
It contended that the search and videography held up the departure of the SPG protectee by 20 minutes.
Hearing the petition filed by the Election Commission of India, the vacation division bench of Justice John Michael Cunha and Justice
HT Narendra Prasad ordered the issuing of notice to Mohammed Mohsin. In its petition, the ECI contended that the CAT’s order was an illegal exercise of its jurisdiction. “The Tribunal has failed to appreciate that Mohsin without authority has directed the Executive Magistrate to check the Helicopter of the PM. Mohsin has also violated the instructions of the EC by doing so,” it said.
Stating that since elections were yet to be concluded, the EC said that the CAT direction would have a pan India effect during the election period as other officers on election duty will not take the instructions of the EC seriously, the ECI said.
Taking serious note of the incident, the ECI had placed Mohsin under suspension on April 16, 2019. Later, after receiving a representation from Mohsin, the ECI had revoked the suspension on April 25, 2019. But it debarred him from election duties and recommended the Karnataka Government to initiate disciplinary action against him in a time-bound manner.
The CAT had stayed the suspension and ordered the State to maintain status quo on the Election Commission of India recommendation to take disciplinary action.