INDORE: Government functionary social media posts cannot be equated with an administrative order or instruction, observed a division bench of MP high court while rejecting a petition challenging NSA detention order of petitioner involved in alleged black marketing of remdesivir.
The court observed this while rejecting the petitioner’s counsel Mudit Maheshwari argument that the district magistrate had acted under a dictate based on a social media post of chief minister of state expressing to impose NSA over people involved in black marketing of remdesivir and other drugs.
The court added, “It is not necessary that every social media post of a government functionary is seen, read out and followed in the administrative hierarchy.”
Had it been an executive instruction, order issued by higher functionary to act in a particular manner and in obedience there of District Magistrate would have passed a detention order, perhaps the matter would have been different, added the court.
The division bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Anil Verma made these observations while rejecting petitioner Sonu Bairwa’s petition for quashing of NSA detention order.
Bairwa was arrested allegedly for black marketing of remdesivir injections while two vials were also recovered from him. District magistrate acting on a report of Superintendent of police, imposed NSA over the accused.
The court however accepted the argument of petitioner that the NSA detention order was applied by district magistrate without application of mind as in the report the already arrested accused was shown absconding.
