The State government has assured the Kerala High Court that it would provide adequate security for those who wished to work on Monday, the day on which various trade unions have given a call for a Statewide hartal.
The trade unions called for a hartal in support of the Bharat Bandh called by the organisaitons of farmers demanding the scrapping of the newly introduced agricultural laws.
The State government gave the undertaking before the court, which was considering a writ petition filed by Perumutam Radhakrishnan, the general secretary of the Samastha Nayar Samajam.
The petition
The petitioner approached the court for declaring the September 27 strike illegal as it violated the Kerala High Court directive that at least 10 days notice shall be given for organising such protests.
The petitioner also sought the intervention of the court to ensure that vehicular movement would not be affected on the day and no one would be forced to participate in the strike.
The petitioner pointed out that the State did not participate in the earlier Bharat Bandh called by the farmers on March 26 as the State was in election mode.
The protest should have been avoided considering the pandemic situation, he contended.
Forced bandh
He also submitted that the hartal call by the trade unions would turn out to be a forced bandh if the court did not issue specific directives to comply with its earlier directives regarding hartals.
A Division Bench of the court consisting of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly disposed of the petition considering the submission of the State.
