Reacting with 'thumbs up' to WhatsApp message on murder does not mean celebrating it: Madras HC

An unusual case made its way to the Madras High Court in India, in which a constable was dismissed from service for reacting with a “thumbs up” emoji on a WhatsApp message regarding a brutal murder. At the heart of the case is Narendra Chauhan, who joined the Railway Police Force service as a constable in 2015, and was fired over the emoji.

The Madras High Court upheld the order of a single judge reinstating Chauhan into the service over the bizarre dispute. Chauhan had filed the writ petition challenging his removal from service.

Here is how this unusual matter unfolded:

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What is the case?

In 2018, when an assistant commandant was brutally murdered by another constable, the news of this incident made waves among police personnel.

The same news was shared in the official WhatsApp group, in which constable Chauhan was also a member.

Chauhan, not expectingthat this could be turned against him, reacted with a “thumbs-up” emoji to the message on the group.

The Railway Protection Special Force saw this as a moral support to the accused, and soon issued a charge memo against him.

The disciplinary authority held an enquiry into Chauhan’s conduct and ordered that he be removed from service.

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It was argued that as a member of a uniformed service, it was expected of Chauhan to maintain a certain standard of discipline and the “thumbs-up” reaction was seen as a mark of celebration to the brutal death of a superior officer.

It was argued that such misconduct would not only send a wrong message to other personnel but also affect the morale of the officers.

Chauhan, on the other hand, was of the view that he had no such intention and had only erroneously shared the emoji. The case was then taken to the Madras High Court upon Chauhan’s petition.

What did Madras High Court say?

The Madurai bench of Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice R Vijayakumar observed that the thumbs-up signal can also be seen as an alternative for the word “OK” and sharing the same could not be considered as celebrating the brutal murder.

The court also noted that Chauhan, who was not so active on WhatsApp had only meant to acknowledge that he had seen the message.

Thus, noting that he had no malicious intentions, the court held his explanation to be believable.

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“The said thumbs-up signal could also be construed to be an alternative for the word “ OK”. Therefore, sharing of the said symbol could never be considered to be celebrating the brutal murder, but is it only an acknowledgement of the fact that the petitioner had seen the said message. Therefore, the explanation offered by the writ petitioner is believable, especially in the light of the fact that no other allegations have been made against him," the court said.

(With inputs from agencies)