Ex-bureaucrat Ashish Joshi moves court for FIR copy after 9-hour police questioning

Former civil servant Ashish Joshi sought a copy of the FIR that led to his nine-hour police questioning in Delhi, moving a petition before a magistrate court on Monday. Chief Judicial Magistrate Mridul Gupta of Patiala House Courts will consider Joshi's application on Tuesday. His lawyer, Aadil Singh Boparai, informed that the FIR copy had not been delivered as of 2 pm on Monday.

Joshi was arrested on September 2 from Chanakyapuri for questioning related to a case registered in August by the Special Cell’s Counter Intelligence (CI) unit under Section 192 of the BNS. This section deals with provocation with intent or knowledge that it is likely to cause a riot. According to Joshi's court application, he was returning from morning walk at Nehru Park when two individuals claiming to be Special Cell officials picked him up for interrogation.

Joshi alleged that he was compelled to accompany them without being given a copy of the FIR. Despite repeated requests during and after the interrogation, he did not receive a copy of the FIR. Joshi requested the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, for a copy on September 3. He claims that the denial of the FIR copy, despite his repeated requests, violated the settled legal position, causing him significant prejudice, uncertainty, and hardship.

The Indian Express reported that Joshi's questioning was linked to his August 26 social media post about West Bengal elections, though the majority of the investigation focused on an earlier post where he mentioned a disagreement between the Union Home Minister and Home Secretary.