Madras High Court today refused to entertain a petition by Labour Progressive Front to vacate its order, restraining unions of Neyveli Lignite Corporation from going on an indefinite strike from July 3 midnight to protest the Centre's decision to disinvest five per cent stake.
When a mention was made today before the First Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan, it directed that the orders passed by the court first be obeyed before approaching it.
The court, in its July 3 interim order on a petition filed by the NLC management, had restrained the unions of the company from going on strike.
The unions had also decided to move the Court against its interim stay order, restraining the workers from going on strike.
About 30,000 NLC workers, including 13,000 contractual employees, struck work at 9 PM on Wednesday, protesting the Centre's decision to disinvest five per cent stake in the PSU.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month saying her state was willing to buy the five per cent equity which the Centre was divesting.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram had last week said the Centre would consider it and sought to assuage workers' concerns saying there would be no change in management or staff policies.
Market regulator SEBI had also given its consent to the proposal, provided the acquisition was by a qualified state entity, following which Department of Disinvestment asked the state to appoint a senior officer to discuss the matter with top finance ministry officials.
