Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has asked the government not to take any adverse action against the employees of Centaur Hotel for at least three weeks.
Hearing a plea by Centaur Hotel Employees Union, a bench of Justice Moksha Kazmi Khajuria directed the union to make a comprehensive representation before concerned authorities in government within a period of two weeks.
“If they do so the respondents are directed to consider the same within a period of one week thereafter” , the Court said.
The Court’s order comes over a week after the government took over the possession of the Centaur Lake View Hotel here, which was leased out to Hotel Corporation of India (HCI) for 99 years, and sealed following violation of lease terms.
The court asked Centaur Hotel Employees Union who
While the court directed the petitioner Union to make a representation before the government, it in the meantime directed the concerned authorities not to take any adverse action against the employees till the representation is considered and decided. “If the petitioners (employees) fail to file the representation within the stipulated time, in that eventuality, the respondents would be free to take action in accordance with law,” the court said.
Advocate M I Dar on behalf of the employees submitted that he would be satisfied if the government was directed to provide the opportunity of being heard to employees before taking any action in terms of notice issued on April 25, 2022 asking them to vacate the premises within 45 days from the date of issuing the eviction notice.
In their plea, the aggrieved employees have sought court intervention for allowing them to continue to work and perform their usual duties against their respective posts in the Centaur Lake View Hotel, Cheshmashahi, Srinagar.
They also seek direction to the government that they shall not be disturbed by way of action as may be taken collectively by the J&K Government and the Hotel Corporation of India Pvt Ltd with regard to the change of Administration, Control and guard of the Centaur Lake View Hotel, Cheshmashahi Srinagar.