Free at last

  • FG Bureau
  • India
  • Mar 20, 2015

After almost three long years of incarceration, and three weeks after the Supreme Court granted bail to two Maruti workers alleged to be involved in the violence at the Company’s plant that led to the death of an officer in 2012, a Gurgaon court has granted bail to another 77 workers. The bail was given by the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge S K Khanduja. Bail application for around 40 more workers is likely to be filed next week in the same court. Rajender Pathak, lawyer for the workers, told Friday Gurgaon that the main contention was that these workers have been falsely implicated, and there is no evidence against them. A majority of the workers have not been identified by eyewitnesses, and the prosecution has failed to produce a single credible witness against the workers, he added. Pathak further alleged that despite negligible evidence against the workers, and they not being habitual offenders, the government has been misusing the State apparatus against them. He said that it is unheard of in a democracy that workers are denied bail and held for years in jail, without the backing of any sound evidence. Sources said that the change in government and the dropping of senior lawyer KTS Tulsi, who was fighting on behalf of the erstwhile government, have helped the workers. The recent bail to two Maruti workers by the Supreme Court was also probably one of the reasons why the lower court could boldly take this decision, said Pathak. The jailed workers had been repeatedly denied bail, and in May 2013 even the High Court had refused to grant them bail. It observed: ‘The incident is a most unfortunate occurrence, which has lowered the reputation of India in the estimation of the world. Foreign investors are not likely to invest money in India out of fear of labour unrest’. It is alleged that the workers were ‘picked’ randomly, with an objective to teach them a lesson. A majority of the workers are the only earning members in their families. The Maruti workers said that a thorough probe should be ordered and the truth must come out. Pathak said that while the bail given to workers has given him hope, the real problem is the lack of support from State authorities, who always seem to prefer to side with the corporates instead of helping the workers. “We want the government to treat both sides equally,” he said. The Maruti workers and their union were elated that the court had finally come to their rescue. Kuldip Janghu, President, Maruti Udyog Workers Union, said, “Now we will ask the Company to take these workers back. The Union will fight for all the 546 employees who were terminated, and several others who were fired without being paid any compensation,” he added.

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