NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has refused to reinstate a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable, who was retired from the service, after finding that he circulated an objectionable WhatsApp message to 200 other staffs with an intent to defame an officer.
A bench of Justices Manmohan and Justice Navin Chawla dismissed the CRPF constable’s petition for being ‘bereft of any merit’ and said that his stand on the message beingshared with the superior authorities with the intent of informing was contrary to facts.
The petitioner constable had shared a message alleging that a officer, a company commander, was in a hotel room in the company of a prostitute. ‘The Court is of the view that the petitioner with intent of lowering the name, image and reputation of the officer, without any verification and without asking the authorities prior in time to investigate the authenticity of the same, had circulated the WhatsApp message to about 200 CRPF staff members,’ the bench said.
It noted that the petitioner had shared the WhatsApp message, along with a photo which could not be uploaded due to insufficient internet on a group chat of which he was the Administrator. It was only after the message was forwarded that it was shared by the petitioner with the DIG concerned