Bengaluru: The suspension of an Indian Administrative Service officer who had, in the line of duty, checked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter in Sambalpur last week, has been revoked by the Election Commission on Thursday evening. The EC took the step after the Central Administrative Tribunal put the suspension on hold and asked for responses from both the sides in three weeks.
Mohammed Mohsin had been suspended by the poll body, which had said that he “had not acted in conformity” with instructions on Special Protection Group (SPG) protectees, which exempt them from such inspection. The Opposition, in turn, had taken umbrage at this claim and asserted that there was no rule which exempts anyone from such checks during polls.
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Staying the suspension on Thursday, the CAT said, “It cannot be said that SPG Protectees are eligible for anything and everything.” It also pointed out that “election officials have checked private vehicles of [Karnataka] Chief Minister Shri [HD] Kumaraswamy more than once and no action followed… the Chief Minister of Odisha’s vehicles were also checked.”
Referring to the controversy over a black trunk that was carried from the Prime Minister’s helicopter into a waiting vehicle during a rally in Karnataka, the tribunal said, “Questions were raised about it but apparently no action followed”. The CAT has asked both sides to respond to its observations in three weeks. The suspended IAS officer had carried out a sudden check of PM Modi’s helicopter, which delayed the Prime Minister by 15 minutes
