HC upholds Army phone rules

All defence personnel must follow the Centre's instructions on use of cellphones to maintain security and discipline and any claim that inspecting their call data during an investigation invades their privacy has no substantial basis, Punjab and Haryana HC has ruled, reported. HC made the observations while dismissing a plea by a colonel being probed by the army authorities for an alleged affair with a fellow officer's wife. "It cannot be ignored that the present petitioner is an army officer.

Army personnel are bound to adhere to the said instructions," Justice Amarjit Bhatti said in his recent order. The colonel, posted in Chandigarh, is facing a court of inquiry (COI) for "stealing the affection of his brother officer's wife"..