Madras high court directs TN govt to regulate usage of mobile phones by public servants for personal use – Times of India

Chennai News

MADURAI: The Madras high court on Monday directed the Tamil Nadu government to frame appropriate regulations to curb the usage of mobile phones and mobile cameras by public servants for personal use during office hours. The court observed that the frequent use of mobile phones by public servants in office would cause disturbance and disrupt the functioning of the public offices.
Justice S M Subramaniam observed that using mobile phones by the public servants during office hours has nowadays become a normal scenario. Using mobile phones or taking videos inside the office is a grave misconduct.
Officials working in the government departments should never be allowed to use mobile phones inside the office for their personal use. If at all any emergency call is to be attended, proper permission must be obtained from superiors to go out from the office to use mobile phones.
Appropriate circular / instruction should be given to all the government offices to ensure that the mobile phones are either kept in a common cloakroom at the time of entering the office. For emergency calls, the official numbers kept in the office should be utilised, observed the judge.
In all circumstances, the mobile phones must be either switched off or kept on vibration / silent mode, without causing any disturbance or nuisance to the public, who all are attending the office as well as the other officials working in the office. This should be the minimum discipline to be followed in the government offices, observed the judge.
The judge directed the state government to issue appropriate circular / instructions to all the officials across the state with regard to regulating the usage of mobile phones and mobile phone cameras on the office premises during office hours. In the event of any violation of the guidelines/instructions which are to be formulated, strict actions should be initiated under the Tamil Nadu Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1973.
The court passed the directions while rejecting a plea moved by D S Radhika, working as a superintendent in the regional workshop (health) in Trichy district, challenging her suspension order. The petitioner was allegedly found taking video of the staff and other employees working at the office. When the petitioner’s phone was taken away by the authorities, she resorted to violence, used abusive and filthy language and tried to attack an official.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/madras-high-court-directs-tn-govt-to-regulate-usage-of-mobile-phones-by-public-servants-for-personal-use-during-office-hours/articleshow/90219647.cms