The Kerala High Court has reiterated that no State government employee, worker, or association has the legal right to call for a general strike or instigate the employees to strike, in the guise of the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
A Division Bench of the court comprising Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly recapitulated its earlier position on the strike by government employees in a petition moved by S. Chandrachooden Nair of Thiruvananthapuram to declare the two-day national strike held on March 28 and 29, 2022 as unconstitutional.
The court made it clear that the provisions of Kerala Service Rules, as well as the notifications issued by the State government, had concluded that the participation of any government employee in a strike, in violation of the provisions of the Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 1960, affecting the normal life of the public and public exchequer, was not protected by the Constitution.
The State government informed the court that 1,72,668 employees had struck work on March 28 and 1,62,354 on March 29. There are 4,65,867 employees in the government service.
Salaries withheld
The salary of 1,68,598 employees was withheld for striking work on March 28 and that of 1,29,209 employees on March 29. The State also said that disciplinary action was taken against 24 employees, who were absent on March 28 and against four for being absent on March 29.
The court took note of the government statement on the steps being taken against the workers/government employees, who had participated in the strike. The State also indicated that steps were being taken to identify the workers/employees who had taken leave for participating in the strike.
Petition disposed of
The Bench disposed of the petition by taking note of the steps taken by the government against the employees who went on strike. The court said it would issue a direction to the State government to proceed against the erring workers/employees who had acted against the Kerala Service Rules and other conduct rules and circulars issued by the State government.
