LUCKNOW: Observing that a citizen cannot be subjected to such injustice due to the callous handling of state agencies, Allahabad High Court directed the cyber cell of Lucknow police to take immediate steps to restore a mobile number belonging to a woman that had been blocked following a complaint lodged by her husband.
It was remarked that such an arbitrary action had caused undue hardship to the woman. The court further directed the husband to show cause as to why he should not be ordered to pay damages to his wife for lodging a frivolous complaint that led to the blocking of her mobile phone number.
A Division Bench, comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena, said the police had blocked the number based on a bogus complaint submitted by the husband of the woman due to a matrimonial discord between the couple.
“A citizen cannot be wronged in this manner by a callous handling by the State Agencies,” said the Court.
The woman had filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court seeking the restoration of her mobile number, which was lying blocked. The Court, in March, had asked the official in charge of the Cyber Cell in the Office of the Commissioner of Police, Lucknow, to explain why the number was blocked. On May 15, the Court said it was not satisfied with the reply filed by the police authorities in connection with the petition.
“There is apparently a matrimonial dispute between the petitioner and respondent no.5, and whatever kind of a complaint was there, is attributable to her husband. The stand taken in the personal affidavit of the In-Charge, Cyber Cell, Police Commissionerate, Lucknow is very irresponsible. He has relied upon some order of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, regarding blocking, debiting, and freezing data received through the Cyber Portal. These are orders, which are not meant to be misused,” the Court said.
The Court, therefore, issued notice to the State government and ordered the police authorities concerned to ensure the restoration of the number previously belonging to the woman.
“The In-charge, Cyber Cell, Commissioner, Lucknow, will take immediate steps for restoration of the petitioner's mobile number after getting in touch with the Telecom Service Provider/ Mobile Service Company concerned, which appears to be JIO Telecom Service Limited, and file his own affidavit after taking necessary steps within a week,” the Court ordered.
The Court also directed the husband of the petitioner to show cause why he should not be asked to pay damages to his wife for lodging a frivolous complaint.