8.The petitioner admittedly posted the subject message in a
WhatsApp group. WhatsApp is essentially a communication platform.
It is end-to-end encrypted. Messages can be sent by one to another.
In the alternative, there can also be a group of persons among whom
the messages can be privately shared. Someone who is not a part of
the group cannot have access to the conversation exchanged among
the WhatsApp group members.
9.The petitioner started a WhatsApp group known as “AIRBEATN and Puduvai”. According to him, it is a private group that exists to
organize their union activities and to communicate among them. The
issue is whether the aforesaid circular can be deployed to regulate the
activities on the said platform. If the circular is applied literally and
verbatim, the act of the petitioner does amount to misconduct. Even
though the circular has not been formally impugned, I will adopt the
approach approved by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Bharathidasan
University Vs. AICTE (2001) 8 SCC 676. The following ratio was laid
down therein:“When the power to make regulations is confined to
certain limits and made to flow in a well-defined canal within
stipulated banks, those actually made or shown and found to
be not made within its confines but outside them, the Courts
are bound to ignore them when the question of their
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