Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court said that it will decide the petitions on the RTC strike only on merits not go by emotion.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy made it clear that the RTC services do not come under the Essential Services Maintenance Act but under the purview of public utility services.
The bench said that it had decided to go by the merits of the case as its efforts to evolve an amicable solution to the crisis were not fruitful, even after giving the government, the RTC and workers time to resolve issues.
“We cannot force the state to start negotiations with the workers and unions. Such power is not vested with us. It is beyond our jurisdiction. Being judges who took oath under the Constitution, we should not overstep our limits,” the bench said.
The court categorised the eight PILs filed on the strike into three groups. Three PILs which had challenged the extending of the Dasara vacations due to the RTC strike were declared infructuous as the schools had reopened.
The court heard PILs seeking directions to declare the strike illegal and to direct the government to start negotiations. Justice Chauhan asked counsels to show the law or case laws which gave the High Court the power to direct unions to call off the strike. “Does the High Court have the power to declare the strike as illegal and direct the state to start negotiations,” the bench asked.
The CJ asked which forum had the power to declare the strike illegal, whether it was the labour court or a forum under the Industrial Disputes Act.
In another category of PILs which challenged privatisation of 5,100 RTC routes, the court extended its earlier order for one more day.
