High Court quashes Karnataka government’s order declaring BMRCL as essential service
Bengaluru : In a major setback to the Karnataka government, the High Court has ruled that the state has no authority to declare the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) as an “essential service” under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).
The court clarified that only the Central Government holds administrative powers over BMRCL, and accordingly, it quashed the July 7, 2017 state government notification that had brought metro services under the ambit of essential services.
The single-judge bench of Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde delivered the verdict while hearing a writ petition filed by the BMRCL Employees’ Union, which had challenged the state’s decision to invoke ESMA provisions under the Industrial Disputes Act.
After detailed arguments, the court observed that under Section 2(n)(vi) of the Industrial Disputes Act, BMRCL’s services could be notified as “public utility services” only by the competent authority, which in this case is the Union Government.
Similarly, under Section 2(1) of the Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Act, the State Government does not have the jurisdiction to issue such a notification, since BMRCL operates as a railway company under the administrative control of the Centre.
The court noted that though both the Central and State Governments hold an equal 50% stake in BMRCL, administrative decisions—especially those concerning industrial relations, strikes, and essential service declarations—must receive final approval from the Centre.
The judgment emphasized that BMRCL cannot be treated as an independent public utility company for the purpose of ESMA enforcement, and any future actions by the State Government in this regard would require prior concurrence from the Union Government.
The verdict is expected to have wide-ranging implications for future disputes concerning metro employees’ rights, strike regulations, and administrative control over the BMRCL.
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