Former Indian Administrative Service officer Kannan Gopinathan who quit in August in protest against restrictions imposed in Kashmir, on Wednesday lashed out at the Union Home Ministry for filing a chargesheet against him.
The 33-year-old IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, posted as the Power Secretary in the Union Territories of Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, had tendered his resignation on August 21. According to Scroll, on Tuesday, he tweeted that an official from Daman had called him and asked him for his address. The official reportedly told him that he would receive a chargesheet. When Gopinathan said he did not own a home and lived in a rented place, the chargesheet was emailed to him.
Gopinathan, who had stated that he had resigned because the "denial of freedom of expression to the people of Jammu and Kashmir was not acceptable", shared details of the "chargesheet" in a series of tweets on Wednesday. The document, as shared by Gopinathan, alleges that the ex-IAS officer "had acted in a manner unbecoming of a government servant, which includes insubordination, adoption of dilatory tactics and dereliction of duty on various occasions.
"This shows grave misconduct on the part of Gopinathan as he failed to maintain absolute integrity, devotion to duty, thereby contravening the provisions of Rule-3 of the All India Service (Conduct) Rules 1968," the statement added.
On Wednesday, Gopinathan tweeted, "Well, @HMOIndia, I know it must be tough as you are unable to manage what’s happening between lawyers and police right under your nose. So in the interest of the nation, I do not want to trouble you more in your weak time. I acknowledge receipt."
He also shared a picture of the first page of the document, saying, "Memo for departmental inquiry given after 2 months of submitting resignation. First page."
The Home Ministry had earlier issued him a show-cause notice on July 8 after receiving a proposal from the UT government for allegedly "indulging in various acts of omission and commission", including "act of insubordination" and "dereliction of duty".
The Home Ministry had said Gopinathan had submitted his reply to the notice on July 31 before submitting his resignation, saying he had carried out his work with honesty and diligence and hence "I request that the proposal to initiate disciplinary action may kindly be dropped and filed." The IAS officer replied to the show-cause notice on July 31, denying charges of insubordination, dereliction of duty and dilatory tactics.
