The central government has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to initiate departmental action against 2010 IAS topper Shah Faesal for what it said violating the All India Services (conduct) rules through his tweet.

The state government has already initiated disciplinary action against Faesal for his tweet about frequent rapes, which was seen by the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training as his failure to maintain absolute honesty and integrity in discharge of duties.

In a notice to Faesal, the General Administration Department said, “You have allegedly failed to maintain absolute honesty and integrity in the discharge of official duty and thus acted in a manner unbecoming of a public servant.”

The GAD initiated the disciplinary proceedings at the request of the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training, sources said.

Faesal had posted a tweet saying, “Population +patriarchy +illiteracy +alcohol +porn +technology +anarchy = rapistan”.

Patriarchy+Population+Illiteracy+Alcohol+Porn+Technology+Anarchy = Rapistan!

— Shah Faesal (@shahfaesal) April 22, 2018

This post drew the ire of the DoPT.

The IAS officer, who is currently pursuing a mid-career masters programme in the US, brushed aside the notice.

He posted the copy of the notice on Twitter and tweeted, “Love letter from my boss for my sarcastic tweet against rape-culture in South Asia.The Irony here is that service rules with a colonial spirit are invoked in a democratic India to stifle the freedom of conscience.”

Love letter from my boss for my sarcastic tweet against rape-culture in South Asia.
The Irony here is that service rules with a colonial spirit are invoked in a democratic India to stifle the freedom of conscience.
I’m sharing this to underscore the need for a rule change. pic.twitter.com/ssT8HIKhIK

— Shah Faesal (@shahfaesal) July 10, 2018

Former state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday came out in defence of Shah Faesal and tweeted, “I see this notice as a case of bureaucratic over-enthusiasm where people who are pushing the files at the top do not understand the spirit of the times we are living in. You have no problem when officers from Rajasthan and elsewhere defy ‘set norms of governance and conduct’, yet Faesal’s tweet about rape bothers you. Somehow this does not surprise me at all!”

In another tweet, he wrote, “Looks like the DoPT is determined to chase @shahfaesal out of the civil services. The last line of this page is shocking and unacceptable where they question Faesal’s ‘integrity and honesty’. How is a sarcastic tweet dishonest? How does it make him corrupt?”

Looks like DOPT is determined to chase @shahfaesal out of the civil services. The last line of this page is shocking & unacceptable where they question Faesal’s “integrity & honesty”. How is a sarcastic tweet dishonest? How does it make him corrupt? https://t.co/6MdUBvC71p

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 10, 2018

(With agency inputs)