The Right to Strike : A Critique of T. K. Rangarajan v. Govt. of Tamil Nadu, AIR 2003 SC 3032 : 2003 Lab IC 2646
By
Siddharth Srivastava
,
Anirudh Rastogi
“Each needs the other, capital cannot do without labour nor labour without capital.”
- Pope Leo XIII.
In T.K. Rangarajan v. Government of Tamil Nadu, AIR 2003 SC 3032 : 2003 Lab IC 2646, Justice M.B. Shah, speaking for a Bench of the Supreme Court consisting of himself and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, said, “Now coming to the question of right to strike- in our view no such right exists with the Government employee.”
Even as early as 1961, the Supreme Court had held in Kameshwar Prasad v. State of Bihar (AIR 1962 SC 1166) that even a very liberal interpretation of Article 19 (1) (c) could not lead to the conclusion that the trade unions have a guaranteed fundamental right to strike. In All India Bank Employees’ Association v. National Industrial Tribunal, AIR 1962 SC 171 (AIBE case) also it was contended that the right to form an association guaranteed by Article 19 (1) (c) o ....