Denied permission for rally, govt staff group goes to court

BENGALURU: With the state government denying permission for a convention planned by AHIMSA, a group representing the backward and general communities, the group has now sought judicial intervention. The matter came up for hearing on Friday and has been deferred to next Thursday.
A rally and convention were planned on October 31 to protest against the non-implementation of the Supreme Court order which struck down consequential seniority in promotions in government jobs to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Nearly 10 lakh state government employees are associated with AHIMSA (Alpasankhyata, Hindulida matthu Samanya) and over 50,000 government  employees from across Karantaka were expected to take part in a protest rally from Freedom Park to Palace Grounds on October 31. A convention too was scheduled.

Speaking to Express, AHIMSA president M Nagaraj said, “We had already got the green signal from the police to hold a rally. We had applied to the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) on October 21 for permission to hold our meeting at Palace Grounds. We got to know only on October 25 that the government had refused permission. So we filed a  petition in the HC and it has been postponed hearing to November 2,” he said.

The state plans to table a Bill on November 13 during the Assembly session in Belagavi in order to circumvent the SC order. “If the Bill on Protection of Consequential Seniority to SC and ST employees is made an Act, then the SC order need not be implemented,” he said.

If implemented, 20,000 employees belonging to the backward and general categories will get promoted while an equal number of SC and ST employees will be demoted, he said.

“Thousands of employees from across the state have booked tickets to Bengaluru. We have paid an advance for our meeting at Palace Grounds. So much money has gone waste now,” said Peethambara Swamy, organising secretary of AHIMSA.

TIMELIME

Feb 9, 2017: SC strikes down consequential seniority in promotions for SC/ST cadre effected by the state. Gives a six-month period till August 8 to implement it
August 9: State sends an Ordinance to the Governor that seeks to bring an amendment to Act
August 23: Governor rejects Ordinance bill  
September 8: AHIMSA files a contempt of court petition against state in Supreme Court
Sept-end: Case comes up for hearing, state asks for time. SC gives it time till Nov 30  
Oct 21: AHIMSA requests permission to hold a rally against proposed Bill
Oct 25: AHIMSA files a case in HC for denial of permission  
October 27: HC defers hearing to November 2