Mumbai, Feb 25 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Friday granted two weeks' time to the Maharashtra government to place before the cabinet for approval a report prepared by a three-member committee to look into the demands of striking Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) workers.

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A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik was hearing a petition filed by MSRTC seeking contempt action against its workers for continuing their strike despite orders from the court.

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Thousands of MSRTC workers are on strike since November, 2021 demanding that they be treated on par with state government employees.

A three-member committee was formed later on the directions of the HC to hear all parties concerned and submit a report. This report was submitted in a sealed cover to the HC, which included the Maharashtra chief minister's opinions and views.

S C Naidu, counsel for the state government, turned down the request from advocate Gunaratan Sadavarte, appearing for the striking employees, for a copy of the report.

Sadavarte said if the employees were informed of their demands being met then they would immediately resume work.

However, Naidu said that the government would have to place the report before the cabinet for approval.

After going through the report, Chief Justice Datta said, “The cabinet approval is required because of huge financial implications.”

The HC then asked the government to place the report before the cabinet within two weeks, and posted the matter for further hearing on March 11.

G S Hegde, advocate for MSRTC, argued that irrespective of the positive or negative findings of the report on merger of the public transport undertaking with the state government, the workers should resume duty.

Hegde said, of the 82,000 workers, 28,000 have resumed work, adding that students in the interior areas of the state were facing hardships as schools have reopened fully and they depend primarily on the state transport buses.

The MSRTC also assured the HC it would not take criminal or any kind of action against striking staffers if they resume duty immediately.

The workers have been demanding that the transport corporation be merged with the state government.

The government, which had earlier announced a salary hike, has turned down the merger demand saying it would have implications on various other transport corporations in the state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)