Reply to plea against ban on strikes: court
The Hindu
The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to respond to a petition challenging its power to prohibit strikes in essential defence services and the imposition of stringent criminal consequences
The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to respond to a petition challenging its power to prohibit strikes in essential defence services and the imposition of stringent criminal consequences under the Essential Defence Services Act, 2021.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Amit Bansal asked the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Law and Justice to give their stand on the plea, which has challenged the constitutional validity of several provisions of the Essential Defence Services Act, 2021 which came into effect from June 30, 2021.
Essential defence services include any service or establishment dealing with production of goods or equipment required for defence-related purposes. As per the petition, there are 41 ordnance factories where approximately 76,000 employees are working.
Around 440 MBBS graduates of 2021 are not required to undergo one year of compulsory rural service as per the bond signed by them while joining the medical course through government-quota seats in 2015 as the High Court of Karnataka has said the law, enacted in 2012 for mandatory rural service, remained unenforced for 10 years as it was published in the official gazette only in July 2022.