In a surprise order, the Himachal Pradesh High Court makes it mandatory for all government staff to maintain Email-IDs.
In a significant move underlining the importance of digitising all government workspaces, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Thursday made it mandatory for all state government employees, including those serving in statutory bodies and PSUs, to maintain Email-IDs. The court’s direction will be enforced on all employees up to class-III level.
A division bench comprising of Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua passed the orders while hearing a writ petition filed by a Junior Engineer (JE), who had challenged his transfer order from Kullu to Anni. The JE had alleged that the transfer was ordered arbitrarily to favour another junior engineer .
The bench noted with surprise that the notice was served manually as the particular JE did not have an Email-ID. Commenting on this, the bench said, “The court has been hearing petitions mainly relating to service matters during the Covid-19 crisis but it was strangely noted that despite advancement of technology, many officers/officials of the state do not have Email-IDs, making it extremely inconvenient and difficult to effect service upon them when they are parties to a litigation.”
The High Court asked the Chief Secretary to pass orders for making it mandatory for government officials, including employees of all boards and corporations to have Email-IDs .The case will come-up for hearing on October 1.