The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the Labour Commissioner to take a decision, within two weeks, on the 45-day long strike by employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice R S Chauhan asked the Labour Commissioner to decide whether to move the Labour court or not.
Reiterating that the High Court can't decide whether the strike is illegal or not, the bench observed that the Labour Court has power to do so.
“This court cannot monitor this complicated dispute. Since the Supreme Court has held that the high court cannot declare the strike either legal or illegal, the labour court is the appropriate forum to decide on it," the bench noted.
The counsel for Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the striking employees told the court that the employees are ready to call off the strike and join their duties provided there are no troubles for the employees once they join back at work.
The bench observed that the court has its own limitations but hoped that if the employees call off the strike and return to their duties, the government or the TSRTC will not take any action against them.
Meanwhile, JAC convenor Ashwathama Reddy called off his indefinite fast at government-run Osmania Hospital after persuasion from leaders of opposition parties. He said the JAC would take a call on ending the strike after going through the copy of the court verdict. He also said that respecting the court order, the JAC has decided to postpone Tuesday's 'sadak bandh'.
Hearing Public Interest Litigations (PILs) and other petitions with regard to the strike, the court made it clear that it can't force the government to hold talks with the employees, as the talks have to be held voluntarily and in a cordial manner. Making clear that it cannot order the state to take back all the striking RTC employees, the bench also noted that the government should show kindness and act as a model employer.
The indefinite strike by over 48,000 employees of RTC entered the 46th day on Tuesday. Though the JAC last week announced temporarily dropping the main demand of the TSRTC's merger with the government, the latter gave no indication of any imminent talks to break the impasse.
(With inputs from IANS)
