Bureaucrat suspended for tweet against former AAP minister Kapil Mishra

The bureaucrat, Ashish Joshi, had filed a complaint with Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik demanding action against Kapil Mishra for circulating a “highly incendiary video” provoking people to attack those who are “against the nation”.

A day after senior bureaucrat Ashish Joshi filed a police complaint against suspended Aam Aadmi Party MLA Kapil Mishra, the Union ministry of communications suspended the officer.

Kapil Mishra (pictured) had accused Ashish Joshi of misusing his official position by filing the complaint on the ministry letterhead. (Burhaan Kinu/HT File Photo)

According to the suspension order, the ministry is contemplating disciplinary proceedings against Joshi.

The bureaucrat had filed a complaint with Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik demanding action against Mishra for circulating a “highly incendiary video” provoking people to attack those who are “against the nation”.

Joshi, posted in Dehradun as controller of communication accounts under the ministry of communications, had shared a copy of the complaint on Twitter. On Tuesday, Mishra had accused Joshi of misusing his official position by filing the complaint on the ministry letterhead.

A senior official of the department of telecommunication, who did not wish to be named, confirmed that Joshi was suspended for his “uncalled for tweets”.

He said, “The behaviour of this officer caused embarrassment to the senior ministers of the central government. The minister and secretary have taken note of his uncalled for tweets. Based on that, action has been taken against him.”

Another official said Joshi was suspended for “misusing his official position, creating confusion among the public and for violation of service rules”. “He claims to be doing it in an official capacity,” the official said.

A copy of the complaint that Joshi shared on Twitter showed it was filed under the letterhead of the ministry of communication. As the letter was widely shared on social media, many thought that the ministry had filed the complaint. Joshi, Monday, had told HT he filed the complaint “in public interest”.

Mishra, a former law minister in the AAP government in Delhi, had on Sunday morning shared a 2 minutes, 17 seconds video from his Twitter account, seemingly calling for violence against “journalist Barkha”, “actors Kamal Haasan and Naseeruddin”, former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader “Shehla”, social activist “Kavita”, and lawyer “Bhushan” among others. In the video, Mishra asked they be “dragged out of their homes and attacked” because they take “an anti-India and pro-Pakistan stand”.

Until late Tuesday, Delhi Police was yet to begin a probe on his complaint.

Meanwhile, Joshi could not be contacted for comment despite repeated phone calls and text messages.