New Delhi: Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee on August 10 came out strongly against the Supreme Court ruling on right to strike, saying its observations that government employees have "no moral or equitable right to go on strike" were "uncalled for" and "beyond comprehension".

He said the right of collective bargaining and ancillary right to strike was an invaluable right of employees. "It was secured after years of toil and effort," he added.

Taking an overall view of the working conditions in India, the Attorney General said "there can be horrendous situations in which the employees have no effective mechanism for redressal of their grievances and are left with no option but to resort to strike."

However, he was in agreement with the view of the Court that strikes cause grave inconvenience to public. He said "no one can dispute that strikes should not be indiscriminate and resorted to for trivial reasons."

"It is also undeniable that strikes cause grave inconvenience to public and also damage smooth functioning of administration," he said when his views on the recent judgement of the Apex Court were sought.

Asked about the comments of the Court that the government employees did not even have the "moral or equitable right" to go on strike, he said "a court of law is concerned with legal and Constitutional issues. The observation that the employees have no moral or equitable right to strike was really uncalled for and is beyond comprehension."

PTI