Orissa HC notice to Govt on ‘illegal’ strike by administrative officers

The Orissa High Court, acting on a public interest litigation seeking legal action against the government officials who went on strike to paralyse the administrative functions for several days in June last, issued notice to the State’s Chief Secretary on Tuesday.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman, taking cognisance of the PIL filed by Cuttack-based social activist Pratap Chandra Sahoo, asked the government to compile a report in this regard.

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Registering a strong protest against the assault on a senior official of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on 30 June by local BJP men, the Odisha Administrative Service Association (OASA) and Revenue officials resorted to ceasing work by availing en masse, seeking the arrest of a local BJP leader, and protection of officers for smoothly discharging their official duty. With the administrative officers abstaining from duty, the day-to-day functioning of public offices in the district headquarters, subdivisions, and blocks had come to a near standstill for several days, affecting the general public.

The agitation of this nature undermined the rule of law and the directions of the Supreme Court and High Courts. It was also a flagrant violation of “The Orissa Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 1959,” which also prohibits any kind of strike by the government officials, the petitioner’s counsel Anup Kumar Mohapatra noted in the petition.

Though several months have passed since the launch of the ‘illegal’ strike by officials, the State Government is sitting over the matter and is yet to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the officials who resorted to the strike to paralyse the administrative function, Mohapatra argued.

The Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) and Odisha Revenue Service (ORS) officers are the backbone when it comes to delivering public services at the block, tehsil, and district level government, and their action against hit governance.

The government employees who participate in general strikes, affecting the normal life of the public and the public exchequer, are not entitled to be protected under Article 19(C) of the Constitution and are also a violation of the provisions of the Odisha Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 1959, the petition maintained, seeking stringent action against those who violated the legal provisions, the petition maintained.