The Centre today told the Delhi High Court that an advisory on usage of emails as well as guidelines for operation of IT resources on government networks have been finalised.
"Email policy of the Government of India has been notified vide gazette notification dated February 18, 2015 by the Department of Electronics and IT, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to ensure secure access and usage of the Government of India email services by its users," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul was told.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Ministry, further said that the "responsibility has been cast upon the users to use this resource in an efficient, effective, lawful and ethical manner.
"Use of the Government of India E-mail service amounts to the user's agreement to be governed by this policy," he added.
The government's response came after the court had asked it to respond to a PIL filed by former BJP leader K N Govindacharya who had raised question on usage of social media network by government departments.
The ASG said in an affidavit prepared by a officer in the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology that the "policy on use of IT resources of the Government of India has also been notified".
"The objective of this policy is to ensure proper access to and usage of government's IT resources and prevent their misuse by the users... It also addresses the issue related to use of social media on government network," it added.
Advocate Virag Gupta, appearing for Govindacharya, however, said, "Email policy is an eye wash and doesn't have any legal authority as the policy doesn't mention any legal authority or refers to any law under which the policy was made.
"There is no provision for any kind of punishment for any violation of the policy," he contended.
To this, the court directed him to file a synopsis of his objections by March 20, when it will hear arguments on the issue.
