On Friday, the state government of Karnataka issued a show-cause notice to an IAS officer over his tweet that praised the Tablighi members donating plasma for treatment. The officer had also been suspended last year for inspecting Prime Minister’s helicopter.
After the news of the Tablighi Jamaat members recovering from COVID-19 and coming forward to donate their plasma to treat other patients surfaced, the IAS officer, Mohammad Mohsin, who is currently serving as a secretary in the Backward class welfare department, put out a tweet that read,
“More than 300 Tablighi Heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only. What about? #GodiMedia? They will not show the works of humanity done by these heroes.”
Notice presumably for the mention of Godi Media?
Hailing from Bihar, Mohammad Mohsin belongs to the 1996 batch of IAS officers of Karnataka. A year ago, he was in the news after he was suspended from duty for inspecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter during the leader’s visit to Odisha. Mohsin was deployed as a poll observer during the elections.
The officer has confirmed to a media house that he has indeed received the show cause notice and also informed that he will be filing his reply for the notice shortly. As per the sources, the show cause notice has been issued for the officer’s mention of ‘godi media’ in his tweet. The phrase ‘godi media’ is widely used by anti-establishment people mocking the media to be a propaganda machine for the government. The notice says that,
“The adverse coverage this tweet has got in the media has been taken note of seriously by the government, given the serious nature of COVID-19 and the sensitivities involved.”
The government has given a period of 5 days to the officer to file his explanation for violating the All India Service Conduct Rules of 1968. If the officer fails to file his reply in the said period, he has been warned of action against him as per the All India Services Discipline and Appeal rules of 1969.
A senior state official spoke to the media and said that the action taken by the government shows its intention of not compromising any remarks by the officials which carry communal undertones. The senior bureaucrat said,
“The Karnataka government has made it clear that it would not hesitate to act even against powerful functionaries if their actions are damaging to the harmony in the state at a time when all are united in fighting COVID-19.”
Source: The News Minute
