Kochi: Kerala High Court on Friday flayed nokkukooli and called it a bane on society. It criticised the practice and observed that the trade unions adhering to nokkukooli were spoiling the chance of others who were willing to work.
The court observed that if this watching included proper activity of ‘watchdogs,’ then payment either by way of money or food might be useful.
“Otherwise, the insistence on payment of what is called nokkukooli is nothing but a bane on Indian society and it is compulsion for other persons who are eligible under the Constitution of India to keep away from work in a particular locality,” it said.
The bench pointed out that the court had repeatedly asked the government to ensure the abolition of nokkukooli. “The claim of ‘nokkukooly’ is not only an affront to the Constitution by an unauthorised and illegal extraction of money by creating a state of threat and deprivation of property.
They amount to offences punishable in law. They are ‘anti-social activities’ as defined in Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007 (KAAPA),” the bench observed.
