Telangana High Court blames RTC unions for death of workers

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday remarked that the leaders of the RTC trade unions were to be blamed for the deaths of workers from suicide and cardiac arrests, rather than blaming the state for the deaths.

While dealing with a PIL filed by  former Professor P.L. Visheshwara Rao, professing that the government’s and Chief Minister’s attitude caused the deaths, the division bench of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy asked how the government was to blame  for the  suicides when it had never asked the employees to go on strike.

“Strike was taken by the trade union leaders, not by the state. If anyone wants to blame, then the union leaders were to be blamed for their non concern about the welfare of the workers in continuing the strike,” the bench observed.

Pointing to the attitude adopted by the unions to get redressal for the grievances of the workers, the CJ said that instead of going on strike, the union leaders should have approached the right forum to resolve the issues faced by the workers. “Rather than taking a decision to go on strike, the union leaders could have consulted an advocate, who would have guided them appropriately as to which forum should be approached under the Industrial Disputes Act to resolve issues. Hyderabad city does not have a dearth of counsels who can give you the right advice on this issue,” he observed.

Reacting to the petitioner’s contention that in an effort to uphold constitutional morality, the courts have ample power to direct the state to  initiate action, the bench said courts also have limitations and how can the court issue mandamus to the government to stop the suicides and heart attacks.

“Your contentions are totally a misnomer. The Constitution does not require the courts to jump into any issue like a breathless horse and issue directions. There are some limits on the judiciary — it does not interfere in everything and every issue. In this issue, the workers had an alternative remedy — to go to the labour court instead of approaching the unions,” the bench said.

Comparing the situation to a patient consulting the wrong doctor, the court asked what was the use of consulting a nephrologist for bad eye-sight?