The Madras High Court on Monday requested Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram to arrange for an inspection of Renault-Nissan automobile manufacturing unit at Oragadam near Chennai, by a senior official from Directorate of Industrial Safety on Tuesday to ascertain whether all necessary COVID-19 protocols had been followed and to mediate between the management and the workers, if necessary.
First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy hoped that the workers too would resume their duties on Tuesday and arrive at some form of solution to the fears expressed by them with regard to safety, after holding necessary talks with the management in the presence of the mediator.
Physical distancing
The judges also impressed upon the need to follow the physical distancing norms scrupulously.
The interim orders were passed on a writ petition filed by the workmen challenging the exemption granted by the State government to automobile industries from the ongoing lockdown. Senior counsel V. Prakash contended that the exemption was unwarranted.
He claimed that as many as 145 workmen had tested positive for COVID-19 and a considerable number of them were under hospitalisation.
On the other hand, advocate Sanjay Mohan, representing the management, claimed that all safety measures had been put in place and stated that the company was willing to undergo an inspection by government officials concerned.
After hearing both sides, the judges said that the dispute between the management and the workmen should be resolved amicably through talks and by putting in place the necessary safety protocol. They also directed the management to disclose the number of workmen who had tested positive for COVID-19 and the number hospitalised when the case gets heard next on June 4.