The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ordered police protection for free ingress and egress of willing employees, customers, visitors, and vehicles to and from the BPCL Kochi refinery, its office, and project sites at Amabalamugal and also for free movement of petroleum products from the premises.
The court passed the directive on a writ petition filed by BPCL seeking police protection in view of the proposed strike on November 28 by various unions.
The court also ordered the police to ensure maintenance of law and order on the periphery of all the six entry points to the refinery premises and project sites in view of dharna, march, or demonstrations on the day of the strike. The company, in its petition, said it feared that the unions and their agents under the guise of the strike might resort to dharna or gherao and obstruct movement of goods and vehicles into and out of the premises. The petitioner has a fundamental right to carry out business under the Constitution, and no union can infringe upon it.
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In fact, the company has put in place a contingency plan for evacuation and relief operations in case of an emergency situation arising on the premises owing to the hazardous nature of the business. All exit and entry points have to be kept open without any hindrance if such an emergency plan is to be carried out effectively.
The possible convergence of large number of people near the main gate or other gates will not be in the best interest of the safety and security of the installations on the refinery premises.