Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday stayed the condition that government employees should give a written undertaking in case they were unwilling to take part in the ‘salary challenge’ by contributing one month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.
A division bench passed the order on a writ petition filed by Kerala NGO Sangh against the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) order refusing to grant a stay against the government order. The court directed the KAT to take a decision on the petition within a month or take steps for granting the interim relief sought in the petition. The division bench said employees interested in taking part in the event were free to donate whatever amount they wanted. But those unwilling cannot be forced to submit an affidavit stating their unwillingness, the court said. It found the 10th stipulation in the order prima facie smacks of a coercive appr-oach. The government staff cannot be asked to donate a fixed amount.
The government should not be party to a measure hurting the self-respect of the staff members, it said. The court also cited the words of Louis VI that dying a thousand times would be better than living without self- respect.
The court asked the tribunal to settle cases connected with the salary challenge within a month. It rapped the NGO Union counsel for stating why the court was against the government.
The government should repay the amount collected from the employees as part of the salary challenge in the wake of the court order, said the Kerala NGO Sangh. As the main point in the government order has been annulled, the government should issue a fresh order saying that the staff were free to decide on the amount to be donated, a statement issued by the Sangh said.
