IAS officer Mohammad Mohsin has been in service for 22 years but had so far kept a low profile, as most IAS officers do. Over the past ten days, however, the Bengaluru-based officer has been pushed into the spotlight for being on the wrong side of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in an incident involving none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mohsin, a 1996 batch IAS officer from Karnataka cadre, was suspended on April 16 by ECI for checking Prime Minister Modi's helicopter in Odisha's Sambalpur in "violation" of norms for dealing with SPG protectees.

While allegations against him are that he conducted a search on the PM Modi's chopper in Sambalpur in Odisha, Mohsin claimed that he was not even present at the helipad when the chopper landed.

"I had given instructions to the videographer from a distance as per the Model Code of Conduct and had left the place even before the chopper landed. That same night, I received a call from a chief election commissioner official asking if I had ordered frisking," Mohsin told CNBC-TV 18. The next thing he knew, he had been suspended.

"I have done my duty as per ECI guidelines. I have not done anything wrong,” he said.

Mohsin is no stranger to the elections. Having overseen a number of assembly elections in Karnataka, he has also been on duty for elections in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya.

“I remember being in this small town called Changlan near the Myanmar border, and the Army was requesting me to head back to the hotel at 4:00 PM since it was not safe. I stayed on till the polling was complete,” he said.

“This is the first time in all these years of doing election duty that I had never received any show cause notice yet,” he added.

In his submission before Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Mohsin said the order was passed by the commission on extraneous considerations on a law-abiding officer with a view to humiliating him and also with a view to deriving political advantage in favour of a political party. The action of the commission is high-handed, mala fide and is not in good faith.

When asked to elaborate on his submission and allegations against the ECI, Mohsin said his advocate had drafted the submission and that he had not looked at it properly.

“I have been very disturbed over the last few days. It was humiliating, I had not even told my family for 24 hours of what had happened," he said.

On April 25, the CAT stayed the ECI order, reinstating him to his post as a secretary in the Backward Classes Welfare Department in Karnataka.

In its order, the CAT said that “during an election process, while reasonable assurances of protection and security must be made available to SPG protectees, it cannot be said that they are eligible for anything and everything,” while also citing new reports that heavy packages were taken from the PM Modi’s cavalcade into another vehicle while in Karnataka.

While his suspension has been revoked, Mohsin is still barred from election duty by ECI, and for now, the IAS officer says he is awaiting official communication from the commission and Odisha authorities on the charges against him.

First Published:Apr 26, 2019 7:57 PM IST