S. PARAMESWARAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALL these petitions are filed in public interest annoyed by the fact that despite various Judgments of this Court and the Honourable Apex Court, there are frequent bandhs, forced hartals and general strikes in the State harassing general public causing trouble, inconvenience, loss and injury to them and a situation is created by unscrupulous, anti -national and anti -people groups who force majority of the people not to move about and force them in illegal detention in their own house by threat, coercion and force. Examinations to be conducted by the Universities and Government agencies are being postponed on such days. Doctors who are going to the hospitals are being attacked. Government Transport Corporation themselves stop running their buses thus preventing the willing workers and employees from going to the work places. Previous experience on occasions of hartals and general strikes cast an obligation on the part of the Government to take preventive measures. It is the duty of the State and its instrumentalities and its officers to maintain discipline and order in accordance with the provisions of law. There is abdication of constitutional responsibility and dereliction of duty on the part of the Central and State Governments in not taking appropriate actions as directed by the decisions of this Court which were affirmed by the Supreme Court. It is also stated that State has not paid damages for the loss incurred by the public and no action is taken to recover damages caused to the property of the Government and Public Sector Corporations.

(2.) THERE is no dispute regarding the legal aspects raised in these petitions. In Bharat Kumar v. State of Kerala, 1997 (2) K.L.T. 287, a Full Bench of this Court held that calling of a bandh and holding of it is unconstitutional and illegal. In paragraph 17 the Full Bench held as follows:

(3.) MAKING use of some of the observations in the Judgment that voluntary hartals and strikes are different from bandh, political parties and certain organisations started to call bandhs in the guise of hartals or general strikes. In such notices also, as in the bandhs, it is stated by the organisers that milk supplies, newspapers, hospitals, medical shops, media etc. will be exempted. Like statutory authorities, those organisers were exempting very few items of essential services meaning thereby that if any other establishment is functioning, that will be stopped. Nomenclature is not at all important. As Shakespere has put it: