Gaurav Dahiya. (File)

Suspended Gujarat cadre IAS officer Gaurav Dahiya, who has been accused of bigamy and cheating, wrote to the state government on July 13 seeking resinstatement in service and withdrawal of the departmental inquiry against him.

Dahiya, who had also moved Delhi High Court (HC) with a defamation complaint against the woman who had accused him of bigamy, was granted preliminary relief after the court observed that prima facie, the case is in his favour.

In a representation addressed to Chief Secretary Anil Mukim, Dahiya requested that the departmental inquiry – initiated against him in August 2019 – be dropped as the complaints regarding his misconduct are not reliably supported by the said witnesses. Advocate Hitesh Gupta added that the accuser was “criminal-minded” and has already been under investigation for making frivolous complaints.

Dahiya, who moved Delhi HC seeking up to Rs 2.05 crore from his accuser in damages for “defamatory content” posted by her on social media on July 10, was heard on July 15. The court noted that an order of injunction was required to be passed or else Dahiya would “suffer irreparable loss”. To this effect, the court directed that the accuser be injuncted from publishing or disseminating any news relating to Dahiya in any manner, via website, newspaper, TV channels or social media. Google LLC was also directed to take down or disable posts or links from the country domain, as were Twitter and Facebook Inc.

In a press conference held by Dahiya’s lawyers on his behalf, Gupta said that in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Dahiya’s qualification as a degree-holder in medicine as well as having served earlier with the health department, the government may consider to reinstate him back in service.

“He is ready to serve in any way and anywhere that he may be posted,” said Gupta. Gupta also alleged that based on the call data records of the accuser, the investigating officer in the case found that “some officials of the health department of Gujarat were in touch with her (the accuser) when she was in Gandhinagar (in August) to lodge her complaint,” further alleging that the officials may have had a “basic motive of ruining Dahiya’s career.”