The Allahabad High Court has ordered the reinstatement of an officer who was dismissed by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government for forwarding a WhatsApp message accusing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of casteism.

In the said matter, Justice Alok Mathur ruled that the dismissal of Amar Singh, who served as an Additional Private Secretary in the State Secretariat, was disproportionate to the alleged offense.

The Court emphasized that the only evidence against Singh was his written admission to the government, in which he stated that he had inadvertently forwarded the message and deleted it upon realizing the mistake. It further noted that the State Government had not presented any substantial evidence before the Inquiry Officer or Technical Committee to support the claim that Singh intentionally spread the message with the intent to damage the government's reputation.

Justice Mathur added that since the department failed to provide evidence that the message had been read or widely circulated, it was speculative to conclude that the message caused harm to the government's reputation.

The WhatsApp message, received by Singh in 2018, claimed that the UP government had closed opportunities for the OBC and Scheduled Caste communities while accusing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma of appointing members from their caste to academic positions at Gorakhpur University. Singh forwarded the message to a WhatsApp group.

Though no formal complaint was lodged against Singh, he voluntarily informed the government that the message was sent in error, and he had attempted to delete it. The government initiated a departmental inquiry against him, accusing him of tarnishing the government's reputation. Singh’s services were terminated in 2020.

The Court found that the inquiry process was flawed and violated established rules. It also noted that the technical inquiry against Singh was conducted ex parte, violating the principles of natural justice. As a result, the Court declared the dismissal as arbitrary and illegal.

Justice Mathur highlighted Singh's admission as an important factor suggesting that a less severe punishment, such as a warning or an adverse entry in his service records, would have been more appropriate. The Court pointed out that while Singh should have exercised caution when dealing with objectionable content, there was no malicious intent behind his actions. Additionally, Singh had taken steps to mitigate potential damage by deleting the message and informing others about the error.

Consequently, the Court ordered the reinstatement of Singh with all consequential benefits and directed the State Government to impose a minor penalty, such as a warning, in light of Singh’s admission and the absence of evidence proving any harm caused by the message.

Advocates Gaurav Mehrotra, Akber Ahmad, Alina Masoodi, and Ravindra Singh represented the petitioner, while Standing Counsel Neeraj Tripathi appeared for the State.