Omar Abdullah defends IAS officer who faces disciplinary action
Srinagar, July 11 : Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday came out in defence of Shah Faesal, the IAS officer who faces disciplinary action for his posts on social media.
The state administration department served a notice to the 2010 Indian Administrative Service exam topper after the Department of Personnel and Trainings (DoPT) asked the state to initiate action against Faesal who is presently in the US pursuing a post graduate course at the Harvard University.
The officer has been frankly voicing his views on various social issues in the country which a government servant is not permitted to do as per the rules quoted by the DoPT.
Defending the officer, Omar Abdullah tweeted: "I see this notice as a case of bureaucratic over-enthusiasm where people who are pushing the files at the top do not understand the spirit of the times we are living in.
"You have no problem when officers from Rajasthan and elsewhere defy 'set norms of governance and conduct', yet Faesal's tweet about rape bothers you. Somehow this does not surprise me at all!
"Looks like the DoPT is determined to chase @shahfaesal out of the civil services. The last line of this page is shocking and unacceptable where they question Faesal's 'integrity and honesty'. How is a sarcastic tweet dishonest? How does it make him corrupt?"
In his defence the officer has said: "Government employees can be hauled for criticism of the government policy, agreed. But in this case if you think rape is part of government policy only then you can take action against me which I believe it is not.
"I think we need to understand that government employees live in a society and they cannot stay completely detached from the moral questions of the society. A ban on their freedom of speech and expression is totally unacceptable."
Faesal earlier said the rules prohibiting voicing of opinion on societal and governmental issues on social media by civil servants in India are monarchical and, therefore, need to be revisited immediately.
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Man held for blackmailing woman using explicit photos, videos
Bengaluru (PTI): A 46-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly blackmailing a woman using her explicit photos and videos to force her into a sexual relationship with him, police said on Saturday.
The accused, Haniyur Chandregowda, is a member of the Child Welfare Committee in Ramanagara, they said.
Obscene photos of several other women were also found on his mobile phone during examination, police said.
The case came to light after a 43-year-old woman, who works as a make-up artist, filed a complaint at the Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station on April 30, they said.
According to FIR, the woman met Chandregowda in 2021. He told her he was connected to TV serials and took her phone number on the pretext of offering make-up work. The woman had been living separately from her husband for about eight years.
The accused started visiting her house frequently and told her he was a lecturer with a good salary and promised to marry her and entered into a physical relationship with her, she alleged.
Police said Chandregowda later used private photos and videos of their intimate moments to threaten her. He allegedly warned that he would make them public if she did not agree to his demands, and continued the relationship under pressure.
The FIR also stated that in 2024, he rented a house using the woman's documents by falsely claiming to be her husband.
The woman also alleged that he used a fake ID claiming he was a Superintendent of Police to avoid paying toll fees.
She claimed that he had taken around Rs 5 lakh from her since 2021 and had not returned the money.
The FIR further stated that he added his name to the educational documents of the woman's daughter, pretending to be her husband.
Based on the complaint, a case under sections 69 (sexual intercourse by deceitful means) and 204 (impersonating a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered. He was later arrested, a senior police officer said.
