Hyderabad: Union challenges move to hire buses

Hyderabad: Challenging the tender issued by RTC managing director, the TSRTC karmika Sangh filed a petition before the High Court seeking a direction to stay the tender for hiring 1035 private buses, to be run during the strike.

The petitioner, TSRTC general secretary, P. Ramesh Kumar, said that the tender amounted to unfair labour practice and was beyond the jurisdiction of the MD; it required approval of the board of directors.

The petition was heard by Justice A Rajasheker Reddy.

T. Surya Karan Reddy, senior counsel for the petitioner, said that in 2013, the corporation’s board had approved a call for only 25 per cent of hired buses. The new call will exceeds 30 per cent.  

“If the Strike is called off, these 1035 private buses will become a burden on the already ailing corporation which is reeling under a financial crisis,” the Counsel submitted.

Countering the petitioner contentions, J. Ramachandra Rao, additional advocate-general said the State was taking steps to run a sufficient number of buses so that no citizen was put to hardship.

He said that the trade unions were flooding the courts with litigations and creating hurdles for the government as well as the RTC.

The RTC Act mandates a hiring of private buses under exigencies, and the State is under compulsion to direct the TSRTC to hire buses.

The judge directed the registry to tag this writ petition to the batch of PILs and writ petitions under adjudication before the Chief Justice’s bench.