High Court restores bus conductor sacked over private WhatsApp messages
The state transport corporation ended a contract conductor's service after he sent two messages in a private co-workers' WhatsApp group discussing new work rules. The High Court of Himachal Pradesh held the private group was not a public social-media platform and the messages were not prohibited criticism. It quashed the termination order and deemed him in continuous service.
This page records what the cited court records and reports say happened. Findings belong to the court or authority that made them; this register adds none of its own. Names of private individuals are withheld unless a naming gate clears them.
How we verify →The termination order stands quashed and the conductor is deemed in continuous service with consequential benefits to follow.
What happened
The High Court recorded that the corporation recruited conductors in 2019-2021, the petitioner joined on contract in late 2021, and in August 2023 the employer issued guidelines warning that criticism of government or corporation policy on social media would be treated as misconduct.
The judgment records that conductors formed a WhatsApp group called 'Himachal Parichalak Ekta' and the petitioner sent two messages there on 04.09.2023 suggesting public hardship would draw ministerial attention and urging monthly review of new rules with public disclosure of profit or loss figures.
The High Court held that the group was a private body of the corporation's own conductors and not a public platform, that discussing common service concerns was not prohibited criticism, and that the show-cause notice had already declared him unfit to retain, making the hearing an empty formality.
Amar Ujala reported that the dismissal order was set aside as arbitrary, that the petitioner would be treated as in continuous service with no break, and that withheld service benefits including regularization and financial aspects were to be released.
What the record says
“Impugned office order dated 10.10.2023 (Annexure P-7) terminating petitioner's services is quashed and set aside.”
[name withheld] vs HRTC & Anr, CWP No. 8073 of 2023, Himachal Pradesh High Court judgment decided 16th September 2026, operative order — read the full text
Punished for a freedom
A state employer took away a worker's job for two private messages discussing workplace policy with colleagues, harming no one; the court protected that private expression.
What we could not confirm
The conductor's posting district is not stated in either source, so district is null. The two messages are summarized, not reproduced verbatim, in both sources. Indian Kanoon spells the petitioner's name '[name withheld]' while Amar Ujala reports 'Sunil Kumar'. A same-day companion matter (Rajesh Kumar vs HRTC, 16 September 2026) was not verified and is not relied on.