A Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik was hearing a contempt petition filed by MSRTC seeking contempt of court action to be initiated against its striking workers for not resuming their duty despite court orders.
Nearly 90,000 employees of one of the largest inter-city bus systems in the country, have been on strike since October 2021 seeking they be treated at par with the State government employees and that MSRTC be merged with the State government, amongst other demands.
While refusing the merger, the State cabinet had accepted that for a period of four years the State government would provide financial assistance to the State transport body to meet the salaries of the employees.
At the end of 4 years, the decision would be reviewed and it would be left to the MSRTC to take a call on whether to continue or not with the aid.
With this clarity, the Bench requested Senior Advocate Aspi Chinoy to advice his client to grant time till April 15 to all the employees to resume duty including those who had been punished.
“We would request the corporation to review their decision and take them back. …Do not terminate services. Do not take away their livelihood,” CJ Datta suggested.
Source: Barandbench
