"Using mobile phones and taking videos inside the office is grave misconduct. The officials working in the government department should never be allowed to use mobile phones inside the office for their personal use," Justice SM Subramaniam of the Madras High Court said in an order directing the Tamil Nadu government to issue instructions restricting the use of mobile phones in government office spaces for personal use. As per Justice Subramaniam's order — The government should issue appropriate circular/instructions under Tamil Nadu Government Servants' Conduct Rules, 1973 to all government offices to ensure that mobile phones are either kept in a common cloakroom at the time of entering offices. For emergency calls, office numbers should be used. Allowing employees to use mobile phones inside office 'will result in serious consequences'. The order was given while hearing a case where an employee at the Regional Workshop (Health), Trichy (Tamil Nadu) lashed out at her superior, when the superior confiscated her phone for 'continuously' using it to take videos at her workplace. After getting suspended, the employee moved court, seeking relief regarding her suspension. It would be interesting to see how this order pans out since the usage of smartphones is so ingrained in a person's life, be it for personal or official use. Phones for personal use by govt officials, a waste of taxpayers' money "If at all any emergency call is to be attended, proper permission must be obtained from superiors to go out from the office and use phones.…
