Delhi Police Questions Former Bureaucrat Ashish Joshi for Nine Hours Over ECI Posts

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police questioned Joshi on Wednesday in connection with a case allegedly related to posts involving the Election Commission. He was released in the evening after nine hours of questioning.

Joshi was reportedly taken home by the police after several people gathered outside the office of the counter-intelligence unit of the Special Cell in New Friends Colony and demanded his release.

Police sources said Joshi, a former controller of communications in the Department of Telecommunications, was picked up from Chanakyapuri for questioning in a case registered two days earlier. The case was lodged under Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with provocation with the intent or knowledge that it is likely to cause a riot.

Sources said Joshi had recently posted on social media about the Election Commission.

In a post on X, Joshi claimed that he was taken for interrogation after his morning walk on the assurance that it would take “very little time”.

He alleged that despite repeatedly asking the police to inform his wife about his whereabouts, he was told they were only “following instructions”.

Joshi said he was finally allowed to make a phone call at 6:38 pm, after leaving his family and friends “in total panic” throughout the day.

He alleged that the conduct of the police was a “blatant violation” of the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in the D K Basu case and said informing a family member or a friend upon detention is a constitutional safeguard under Article 22(1).

In the D K Basu vs State of West Bengal judgment in 1997, the top court laid down mandatory rules for police officers to prevent custodial violence and protect the rights of arrested or detained people.

Joshi also urged Commissioner Anurag Kumar and the Delhi Police to issue clear instructions to all units to ensure that families are immediately informed when a person is detained or taken for interrogation.

There was no immediate response from the Delhi Police to the allegations.