The Indian government passed the ESMA in 1968. Employees of the railway, defense, post, telegraph, etc. are prohibited from striking under this law. Continue reading to learn more about the ESMA act.
So, what is the ESMA? The law is used whenever there is a significant strike or ‘bandh’. It’s the abbreviation for the Employee Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), a statute that the government can use to prevent striking employees from refusing to work in certain essential services required to keep the country running smoothly.
An essential service is any service for which the Parliament can enact legislation or the government believes that its cessation would jeopardize the provision of critical supplies and services to support life is considered an essential service.
A strike is not unlawful in and of itself, but the government has the authority to prohibit one if it gets deemed to be seriously disrupting public life. The government must issue a general or special order calling for the strike to call off. After this order is issued, any strike becomes illegal.
Applicability Of The Act
Each state in India has its own State ESMA, with slight differences in provisions from central legislation. The legislation has not been widely implemented in India, and numerous strikes have gone on for weeks without the union or state governments invoking ESMA.
In incidents involving the ESMA’s implementation, citizens have gone to court, and court decisions have caused the executive to proclaim ESMA over a strike and strikes to get dissolved overnight.
While ESMA, 1968 is a central law, certain states have chosen to enact state laws, such as:
- Rajasthan enacted RESMA in 1970
- Maharashtra Essential Service Maintenance Act
- Andhra Pradesh Essential Service Maintenance Act was enacted by Andhra Pradesh in 1971
- Kerala Maintenance Act of Essential Services, 1994 – In Kerala, this law has been in effect since 1994. The law provisions from the core act varied slightly, as is customary. Before this statute, there was the Kerala Service Maintenance Order of 1993.
- Karnataka Essential Service Maintenance Act, 1994 – The Karnataka government passed the act, and it has been in effect since April 16, 1994. According to Section 1(3) of the Act, the Act had a ten-year life span when it expired on April 15, 2004. The Karnataka government planned to revive ESMA in 2013, and with the Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Bill, ESMA was reintroduced on June 9, 2015.
Important Provisions Of The Act
Section 3: Section 3 of the Act grants the central government the authority to ban the strike of any vital service by issuing a particular order. The key service business would have to be included in the order by the government. The central government reserves the right to issue such an order in the public interest or necessary. As a result, any person who goes on strike after giving the central government a particular directive breaks the law.
Section 5: Section 5 also stipulates that anyone who initiates such a strike may get sentenced to a maximum of 6 months in jail or a fine of one thousand rupees or both.
Section 6: A person who instigates or incites an illegal strike in violation of Section 3 of this Act may face jail time up to one year or a fine of 2,000 rupees, or both, under Section 6.
Section 7: This section of the Act states that anyone who provides financial help to such a strike will get sentenced to two years in prison or a fine of two thousand rupees.
Section 8: The police have the authority to make arrests without a warrant under Section 8 of the Act. Any police officer may arrest anyone reasonably suspected of committing any offence under this Act without a warrant, regardless of the restrictions of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973.
Section 9: Offenses committed under ESMA should be tried summarily, according to Section 9. Whatever the 1973 Criminal Procedure Code contains, in summary, a first-class judicial magistrate specially empowered in that regard by the State Government and, to the extent possible, under Sections 262 to 265 (both of which include) of that Code shall apply to such trial in all offenses under the Criminal Procedure Code.
Why Is The ESMA Necessary?
If a crime is convicted in a summary hearing under this section, the Magistrate shall impose the sentence of imprisonment for any term for which the offence under this Act may get punished.
One of the most important laws for protecting the public interest in the country is the ESMA Act of 1968. The central government has a broad range of powers under this Act to keep services running smoothly, which is necessary for ordinary citizens to function.
If employees from any significant department go on strike and the government refuses to comply with their demands for a halt to the strike, the government will take action against them under ESMA regulations.