COVID-19: FIR Against Kannan Gopinathan for ‘Not Resuming Duty’

Kannan Gopinathan.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

A police case has been registered against Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) last August, for not joining duty as directed by the government amid the coronavirus pandemic.

An FIR under the Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act was registered against him on 21 April at Moti Daman police station in the Union territories of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the police said.

He is also facing a charge under Section 188 of the IPC for refusing to obey a government order, said police inspector Liladhar Makwana.

Gopinathan, who hails from Kerala, had quit the service over "denial of freedom to the people of Jammu and Kashmir".

"Based on a complaint by Superintendent of Personnel HK Kamble, an FIR has been registered against Gopinathan for not resuming his duty in the wake of coronavirus pandemic," the police officer said.

On 9 April, the Union Territory's administration had sent a communication to Gopinathan, asking him to join duty on the ground that his resignation had not been accepted yet.

Gopinathan termed the letter as an act of harassment and refused to join duty, saying he was ready to offer his services amid the COVID-19 crisis as a common citizen.

He had submitted resignation to the Union Home Ministry on 21 August following the imposition of restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir after the scrapping of its special status.

He was then serving as secretary, power department, of the Union territories of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

While refusing to join the duty, the 33-year-old bureaucrat said in his letter to the government earlier this month that he was ready to help people as a common citizen.

"But as I have already resigned from IAS, my services won't anymore require the tag of an IAS officer, or the perks and salary that it entails. I provide my service voluntarily as a free and responsible citizen of this country," the letter said.