Hassan Deputy Commissioner C. Sathyabhama has suspended a first division assistant working at the office of Deputy Director of Public Instructions in Hassan on charges of forwarding a message favouring a political party on a WhatsApp group.
B.H. Manjunath, the FDA, forwarded a message favouring the BJP to a WhatsApp group named after former BJP MLA Preetham Gowda on March 31. Nagendra Ram filed a complaint through email to the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Hassan and sent a copy to the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka as well.
The Deputy Commissioner asked DDPI to submit a report on the issue. The DDPI submitted the report after taking an explanation from Manjunath. The Deputy Commissioner, on Monday, suspended the official on Monday, stating that his act was a violation of the model code of conduct. She issued the suspension order as per Section 134 of the Representation of People Act and the rules of Karnataka Civil Services Rules 1957.