Gauhati High Court has stayed the transfer orders of 231 employees of Coal India Limited’s North Eastern Coalfields based on petitions filed by employees unions fearing closure or privatisation of the coalfields.
A bench of justice, Suman Shyam issued the order on September 24, in which the court asked CIL to suspend all transfer orders till October 13, the next date of hearing of the petitions.
The petitioners sought the court’s intervention alleging that the Coal India Limited was in the process to close down mining activities in its Tikak, Tikak Extension, Tirap and Lekhapani segments in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district without citing any valid reason. They also feared that the CIL was planning to hand over the mining activities in the region to private companies and so they were transferring employees to other parts of the country.
During a hearing of the petitions on July 28, the CIL had assured the court that the apprehension expressed by the employees were baseless. But the petitioners submitted three transfer orders issued on September 4 alleging that the CIL was misleading the High Court.
Ashok Saraf, the lawyer of the petitioners told the court that the transfer orders were not only violation of the standing orders of the government against any transfer in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic but was also indicative of CIL’s intent to shut down its mining activities.
Lawyer of the CIL, Z Ahmed told the court that the transfer orders had already been kept in abeyance and sought time till October 13 to submit some documents in reply to the allegations made in the petitions.
Some of the petitioners are Purbattar Khadan Mazdoor Union, Rashtriya Coal Mazdoor Union, Assam Colliery Mazdoor Congress and Assam Janata Mazdoor Union.
