The Hindu : `Resorting to illegal strike punishable'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 19, 2004

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National

`Resorting to illegal strike punishable'

NEW DELHI, FEB. 18. The Supreme Court has differentiated between legal and illegal strike saying those resorting to the latter could be punished for unauthorised absence.

A Bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal and Justice B.P. Singh, gave this ruling while allowing an appeal filed by the U.P. State Bridge Corporation Ltd. challenging a verdict of the Allahabad High Court ordering reinstatement of 168 workers whose services were terminated for remaining absent from work for over eight months despite repeated notices.

The Corporation had approached the High Court challenging the termination saying the workers were on illegal strike and the court had held that going on illegal strike did not mean abandonment of service.

Justice Pal said the submission that a person on illegal strike did not abandon his job was erroneous. ``An illegal strike cannot by definition be authorised absence,'' she added.

The Bench referred to Section 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act that defined ``continuous service'' as ``uninterrupted service, including service which may be interrupted on account of sickness or authorised leave or an accident or a strike which is not illegal or a lock-out or a cessation of work which is not due to any fault on the part of the workman.''

PTI

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