Powermen call off strike in Jharkhand after intervention by HC

Passing the directions after taking suo motu cognisance of the indefinite strike, the division bench of Chief Justice P C Tatia and Justice Jaya Roy said severe action would be taken if electricity was not restored within 'ten minutes'.

The bench termed the strike illegal because no prior notice was given by the employees.

The court had yesterday issued notices to Chief Secretary S K Choudhary, JSEB Chairman S N Verma and to the representatives of the striking employees following disruption of power supply across the state and fixed today for the hearing.

The striking employees were aggrieved over handing over the franchisee of the distribution system of Jamshedpur and Ranchi to Tata Power and Calcutta Electric Supply Company (CESC).

"We have called off our strike. But, we will continue to put pressure on the government against privatization of JSEB," convener of the Coordination Committee of the union, Prasant Chaturvedi, told the media here.

Chief Minister Arjun Munda had yesterday defended the government