Relief for Haryana health officials as high court halts Geo-Fencing mandate

CHANDIGARH: Taking cognizance of a petition challenging the Haryana government’s decision to make attendance through a newly introduced geo-fencing mobile app mandatory for health department officials, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday restrained the state from taking coercive action against employees for non-compliance.The court also issued notices to the additional chief secretary, the director general of the Haryana health department, and the director of the National Health Mission, seeking their response on the matter.The case has been adjourned to January 15, 2026, for further hearing.Justice Sandeep Moudgil passed these orders while hearing a petition filed by a coalition of nine associations representing doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other employees of the Health department Haryana questioning state’s decision to mandate attendance through a newly introduced Geo-fencing mobile application.The petitioners have mainly challenged the May 30 order directing employees to compulsorily download the “Geo-Fenced Attendance HRY” app on smartphones as an additional mode of marking attendance alongside the existing biometric system.The petitioners have contended that the app—which relies on GPS-based tracking within a 500-meter radius of the workplace—not only duplicates the existing biometric system but also infringes upon the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.Counsel for the petitioners, advocate Ravinder Singh Dhull submitted that employees had already consented to the use of their biometric details for attendance purposes. However, compelling them to share real-time location data through a third-party mobile application amounts to “unconsented appropriation” of personal data. The plea cites the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which mandates explicit consent for collection and processing of personal data, arguing that the app violates both statutory protections and constitutional guarantees.The employees have raised alarm over the app’s access permissions, which allow it to prevent a device from sleeping, maintain constant network access, and track location whenever activated. Petitioners argue this transforms personal smartphones into “24/7 surveillance tools,” creating a chilling effect on individual liberty.They also argue that such imposition is discriminatory and violates Article 14 of the Constitution. The app has been made mandatory only for Health Department employees, while no similar requirement exists for other government staff. Even within the department, certain contractual workers are exempt, creating arbitrary classifications without rational justification, the petition has stated.It has also been argued that thousands of Class IV workers employed on minimum wages cannot afford smartphones compatible with the app, while older employees may not have the skills to operate them. Since conditions of service are governed under Article 309, the associations argue, no executive order can impose new obligations requiring employees to purchase or maintain smartphones with GPS capabilities.Counsel for the petitioner also cited the apex court’s 2024 judgment in Frank Vitus versus Narcotics Control Bureau, where continuous GPS tracking was held unconstitutional even as a bail condition, to argue that similar surveillance cannot be imposed on government employees who face no criminal charges.Sharing the details of hearing, advocate Ravinder Singh Dhull said that after hearing the contentions, the HC issued notice to state authorities with directions not to take any coercive action against employees non-complying the government order on geo-fencing attendance. The copy of the order was not available till the filing of this report.