Kerala HC upholds employee’s right to freedom of speech on WhatsApp

The Kerala High Court, earlier this week, ruled in favour of an employee, in the case Sujith TV vs Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd, who challenged his suspension and disciplinary punishment for sharing safety concerns in a private WhatsApp group. The court opined that there is no wrongdoing in an employee sharing messages about workplace safety in a private group.

The petitioner was represented by Advocates Kaleeswaram Raj, Varun C Vijay, Thulasi K Raj, and Maitreyi Sachidananda Hegde. Respondents were represented by M Gopikrishnan Nambiar, K John Mathai, Joson Manavalan, Kuryan Thomas, Paulose C Abraham, and Raja Kannan.