FIR against Kannan Gopinathan for not resuming duty

The union territory of Daman and Diu police has registered an FIR against IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan for not resuming the duty despite his resignation application being rejected and summons issued to him to get back to work, police said.

Gopinathan, who quit the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) while criticising the central government's policies last year, was last posted as secretary, power department of the union territory of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

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Superintendent of Police Vikramjit Singh confirmed to DH that an FIR has been registered against Gopinathan under section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) that reads as disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant and sections of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, that has been invoked by local administration following deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The union territory has remained unaffected with the outbreak so far. The FIR comes after Gopinathan refused to resume despite repeated notices and summons. Officials said that last notice issued to Gopinathan to resume work was on April 10 but since he didn't turn up, the government ordered registration of FIR against him for illegal absent. The FIR has been lodged at Moti Daman police station.

In August 2019, Gopinathan hit headlines after he resigned from the civil services criticising the central government for curbing freedom of expression in Jammu and Kashmir. However, his application for the resignation was not accepted by the Ministry of Home Affairs. He was issued show cause notices and was later charge-sheeted for being absent from duty without leave among other charges.

Gopinathan, meanwhile, turned into activism and became one of the leading voices in protest against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the country.