Kerala HC seeks Centre's response on plea challenging move to make Aarogya Setu app mandatory for govt, private sector employees

It said that autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution of India also grants individual freedom not to take part in activities he does not approve of and added that the use of penal law to enforce the use of an app is arbitrary and unconstitutional."Section 58 of the Disaster Management Act 2005 imposes penal action upon employers if their employees do not comply with the directive of usage of Arogya Setu.

Kerala High Court on Friday sought the Central government's response on a petition challenging its decision to mandate the use of 'Aarogya Setu' app for all government and private sector employees working amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

A bench of Justice Shaji P Chaly and Justice MR tha issued a notice to the Centre seeking its response and posted the matter for further hearing on May 12.

The petition, filed by Thrissur District Congress Committee General Secretary John Del through advocates Sriram Parakkat KS Sripathi and Anupama Subraman, said that such directions violate the right to privacy and personal autonomy.

It said that autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution of India also grants individual freedom not to take part in activities he does not approve of and added that the use of penal law to enforce the use of an app is arbitrary and unconstitutional.

"Arogya Setu takes away the right of a person to decide and control the use of the information pertaining to him. He is forced to give away data to a system which he may or may not approve of, thereby attacking his right of informational autonomy," it said.

The plea sought directions to quash the directives terming them as unconstitutional and restraint the authorities from resorting to coercive action for enforcing the mandatory use of the application.

"Section 58 of the Disaster Management Act 2005 imposes penal action upon employers if their employees do not comply with the directive of usage of Arogya Setu. This is arbitrary to the extent that no penal action can be imposed on anyone having no mens rea," it said.

"An employer who has only a work relationship with an employee cannot compel the employee to install a mobile application and use it diligently and to provide his personal information to the domain," the plea added.

( With inputs from ANI )