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A petition has been filed before the high court of Delhi against the order of director-general of military intelligence, that requires all the Indian army personnel to delete their social media accounts including Facebook, Instagram, and 87 other social media applications.
The petition has been filed by the serving lieutenant colonel, who uses these platforms to communicate with his family which resides outside India and finding it very difficult to connect to his family without these platforms.
He submitted that he uses his social media account in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Indian Army, and has never shared any classified information relating to his work or duties over any social media platform.
The soldier also submitted that the soldiers posted in the remote locations rely on the social media platforms to connect with their families.
It contended that the ban over the use of social media violates various rights of the soldiers including the right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to privacy and that the power to modify the fundamental rights of the army personnel resides with the parliament only.
The petitioner pointed out that this policy is violative of Article 14, as while the soldiers are ordered to stop using social media platforms the members of civil administration who possess much sensitive information than a soldier have no restriction regarding the use of social media.
Therefore, the petitioner has pleaded before the high court to direct the respondent to withdraw its draconian policy, came on 6 June 2020, to the extent, it restricts the soldiers from using the social media platforms or requiring them to delete their social media accounts.
Petitioner also pleaded to the court to declare that the Director General of Military Intelligence is not empowered under any law to modify the fundamental rights of the army personnel.
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