Puducherry official suspended, booked under IT Act for posting

A senior Puducherry Civil Service (PCS) officer has been suspended and booked under the Information Technology Act for allegedly posting an obscene video clip in a Whatsapp group of government officials.
Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, the appointing authority of PCS officers in the Union Territory, yesterday issued the order suspending Registrar of Cooperative Societies A S Sivakumar with immediate effect, a Raj Nivas official said today.
In a related development, police today registered a case against the officer under the IT Act's Section 67-A (punishment for publishing in electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest).

The case was registered on the basis of a complaint received from the Officer on Special Duty at the Raj Nivas, Senior Superintendent of Police V J Chandran (Crime and Investigation Wing) told PTI.
"We will investigate the matter in the wake of registering the case now under the Act," he said.
Sivakumar, also the Director of the Information Technology Department here, is a member of the Whatsapp group of various government department heads.

The official Whatsapp group is actually meant for exchange of information and details of implementation of various schemes by the government departments.
The suspension order also said disciplinary action was being contemplated againstthe officer.

The Lt Governor suspended the officer in keeping with the powers available to her under the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules 1965.
The official was directed not to leave the headquarters without getting prior permission from the Lt Governor.