Ex-bureaucrat Ashish Joshi questioned by Delhi Police over social media post

Former bureaucrat Ashish Joshi, who was questioned by Delhi Police's special cell for several hours Wednesday, said he and his lawyers were yet to be provided with a copy of the FIR against him.

Speaking to TOI, Joshi, a 1992-batch officer of the Indian Post and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service, said he went to Delhi Police headquarters Thursday with a letter from his lawyers asking that he be provided with a copy of the FIR against him. The FIR has been registered under section 192 of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, which relates to "wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot".

Joshi said he was approached by two Delhi Police officers as he was leaving Nehru Park Wednesday morning. "They showed me the first page of the FIR for a short while. It mentioned a post I had made on X on Aug 26 about SIR and elections in West Bengal. I was not shown the second page of the FIR; so, I am at the police headquarters with a letter from my lawyers to seek a copy, which they are required to provide to me," Joshi said.

Police sources said as Joshi was not arrested and only questioned, there was no need to provide a copy of the FIR at this stage. Sources said that the cops questioned him regarding his post on X that called for "Nuremberg style trial" - military tribunals held after World War II - of the chief election commission in connection with the West Bengal elections while demanding that they be held again. During questioning, Joshi claimed, he was asked about his social media activity, including his post on the chief election commissioner and another he made on Aug 13.

Earlier in the day, Joshi posted on X that he was not allowed to inform his family and friends that he was being questioned by police officials Wednesday. "Informing an individual's family during interrogation or detention is a legal mandate, not an optional courtesy... I was only permitted to make a call at 6.38pm, leaving my family & friends in total panic the entire day," he posted on X, tagging Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar.

Delhi Police, however, rejected the allegations, asserting that all mandated legal provisions were followed during the questioning. Police said that following their request to join the investigation, Joshi came to the special cell's office in New Friends Colony in his own vehicle and was escorted home safely and cordially in the evening. Sources in Delhi Police had said Wednesday that Joshi and his wife were duly informed about the questioning and the registration of an FIR.