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Court emphasized that one of the many reasons why unrestricted media interactions for government servants should be limited is to prevent the government from presenting contradictory stands on the same issue
The Allahabad High Court recently raised concerns over government servants' interactions with the media. There is a general trend amongst government servants of the present day of all ranks, including those in the Central Services serving the State cadre, of casually and freely speaking to the media, court said.
The bench of Justice JJ Munir highlighted that the district collectors and the district superintendent of police are often freely seen speaking and interacting with the media and likewise, is the case with government servants employed in connection with the affairs of the State and those serving further down in the hierarchy.
"Unless there is a change or a fundamental change to the conduct rules in force earlier in the day, this kind of a freedom would not be there for government servants to speak to the media of their own," the bench stressed.
Court said that one of the reasons amongst many others as to why every government servant should not be allowed to freely speak to the media is that the government should not be seen coming up with contradictory stands on the same issue.
"It must speak through an authorized spokesperson, may be someone from the public relation department or a designated officer from the particular establishment or department," the single judge bench asserted.
Therefore, court asked the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Personnel, Government of U.P., Lucknow to file his own 'affidavit generally indicating what the service rules now say about government servants speaking to the media'.
Court directed that if there are prohibition generally in the service rules, the Secretary will also indicate the steps taken from time to time in training academies to train the younger generation of government servants not to be tempted to speak to the media and more so impromptu.
Court sought the affidavit within a week while posting the matter for further consideration on May 3, 2024.
The order was passed in a plea filed by a government servant against the departmental proceedings on him. After going through the contents of whatever was spoken to the media by the petitioner, court refrained from expressing any opinion on the matter at the present juncture.
Case Title: Adarsh Kumar v. State Of Up And 5 Others
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