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Synopsis

The Madras High Court has recently upheld the reinstatement of a constable in a Railway Protection Special Force who had been removed from the service for putting a “thumbs up” sign on a message circulated in the official WhatsApp group.

The constable had shared the “thumbs up” emoji on a message relating to the brutal murder of an Assistant Commandant by another constable.

The bench of Justice D. Krishnakumar and Justice R. Vijayakumar opined that the said thumbs-up sign could also be construed to be an alternative for the word “OK”.

"Sharing of the said symbol could never be considered to be celebrating of the brutal murder, but is it only an acknowledgement of the fact that the petitioner had seen the said message," the division bench held.

The Railway Protection Special Force filed a writ appeal against the judgment of a single judge bench of the high court which had ordered the reinstatement of the constable into the force on the ground that the constable had erroneously shared the “thumbs up” emoji. 

According to the Deputy Solicitor General appearing for the Railway Protection Force, the constable, being a member of the Uniformed Service, was expected to maintain a high standard of discipline. However, his 'thumbs up' emoji on the message relating to the brutal murder of superior officer was clearly a 'celebration' and therefore 'misconduct', he contended.

On the contrary, the counsel appearing for the constable argued that by mistake he had put up the “thumbs up” emoji with no intention of denigrating the deceased higher official.

The division bench opined that the explanation offered by the constable that he was not so conversant with WhatsApp and he had shared the ‘thumbs-up’ emoji erroneously was believable.

Also, the bench pointed out no other allegations had been made against the constable and he did not have any bad antecedents as well.

Therefore, taking into consideration the submission of the constable that he never had any intention to approve the said brutal murder or affect the moral of the officers, court opined that the single judge bench was right in setting aside the order of removal from service and directing for the constable's reinstatement.

Case Title: The Director General Railway Protection Force Railway Board and Others v. Narender Chauhan