The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that government employees cannot be subjected to disciplinary action for uploading posts in private WhatsApp groups. The court observed that messages sent in WhatsApp groups are confined to the members of the group and cannot be considered as public. Justice Vivek Rusia, in his order, stated that forwarding messages in a private WhatsApp group does not come under any provision of the conduct rules. The court further observed that the state government has not issued any circular or statutory provision regarding the creation of WhatsApp groups for government employees, and therefore, any activity of the employees in such groups cannot be linked to serious disciplinary rules.
The case before the court involved a government employee, ID Makrani, who had been suspended and charged for forwarding an alleged objectionable political message in the WhatsApp group of employees in Alirajpur district. Makrani had filed a petition against his suspension and chargesheet, arguing that the message was forwarded by his six-year-old daughter inadvertently, and he had immediately apologized for the same.
The court considered Makrani’s argument and observed that since the WhatsApp group in question was a personal and private group, with no connection to the official work of the government, the act of forwarding a message in the group does not violate any conduct rules. The court also took note of the fact that the state government had not issued any circular or made any statutory provision regarding the creation of WhatsApp groups for government employees. Therefore, the court held that Makrani’s suspension and chargesheet were unjustified.
This ruling by the Madhya Pradesh High Court provides clarity on the boundaries of an employee’s actions in private WhatsApp groups. It establishes that unless there are specific guidelines or provisions issued by the government, employees cannot be disciplined for their activities on such platforms. This decision has implications for other cases involving disciplinary action against government employees for their online behavior in private groups.
