Kannan Gopinathan, who quit IAS, asked to join duty till resignation is accepted

Daman: Keralite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned from the prestigious service last week reportedly owing to political pressure, has been asked to resume duty and continue to work till his resignation is accepted.

Gopinathan put in his papers stating he did so as the denial of "freedom of expression" to the people of Jammu and Kashmir was not acceptable to him. His resignation, though, had made no mention of the Kashmir issue.

The 2012 batch IAS officer, who was the secretary, power department of the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, submitted resignation to the Home Ministry on August 21.

Now, the Personnel Department of Daman and Diu has now asked him to attend the office till it is accepted.

As he was not present in Silvassa, the capital city of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, officials pasted a notice on the door of the room in a government guesthouse where he lived.

The notice, dated August 27, has been signed by Gurpreet Singh, deputy secretary, personnel department of Daman and Diu.

Citing Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) rules, the notice said resignation by a government officer "becomes effective when it is accepted".

"Therefore, you are hereby directed to continue attending to your assigned duties immediately, till a decision is taken on your resignation," it said.

When contacted, Gopinathan told PTI that he was aware of the notice, but declined to comment further.

After tendering resignation, Gopinathan, who hails from Puthuppally in Kerala's Kottayam district, had said to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution was the "right of elected government", but in democracy people have the right to respond, too.

"After taking the decision on Kashmir, nearly 20 days have passed and even now, the people there are not allowed to react or respond to it and that is not acceptable in a democratic set-up. Personally, I could not accept it and continue in the service during such a time," he had told PTI.

The 32-year-old officer came into limelight when he discreetly taken part in the relief efforts during the floods of 2018 in Kerala.

Later, a show-cause notice was recently issued to him by the Union Home Ministry in July for taking part in the relief efforts.

The notice stated that the Malayali officer didn't submit reports of his visit to his home state during the floods last year.

In his reply to the notice, Gopinathan had stated that it was decided not to file a report after holding discussions with the Administrator. The decision was arrived at as no further action on the flood-relief front was on the anvil.

In a chat with Onmanorama the other day, the 32-year-old bureaucrat, who hails from Kottayam, had said "I could come down to Kerala and serve my people during 2018 ood only because I could spare some time. All my efforts would have been in vain had it affected my professional commitments. "