Hyderabad: C.V. Mohan Reddy, senior counsel appearing for TD leader C.L. Venkat Rao, also brought to the notice of the bench that a contempt petition had been moved against the striking staff, seeking to punish them for disobeying the court’s orders.
The bench expressed its displeasure over the conduct of the RTC unions and told Mr Vedula Srinivas, counsel for the employees, that if they continued to defy the court orders, the bench would direct the TS and AP governments to make alternative arrangements and take action against the staff.
Mr Srinivas submitted that the AP had invoked Essential Services Maintenance Act against the striking staff in AP. He asked the court that since APSRTC was not yet bifurcated, was AP within its powers to invoke Esma?
While saying that these issues would be addressed at the time of final hearing, the bench told counsel to ask his clients to withdraw the strike by 12 pm. The matter was adjourned to Wednesday.
