‘No public servant can choose to stay away from COVID control work’

Holding that the apprehension of the association has absolutely no basis at all, Justice V Parthiban said no particular class of public servants can claim complete insulation in the fight against the virus. “In an extraordinary situation like the present one, government alone can regulate, and arrange its affairs and utilise the services of its servants,” the judge said.

The prerogative of the government in such matters cannot be trifled with or questioned by the association, whose members have a vested interest not to be involved in the fight against the pandemic, the court added.

Also, noting that the litigation was a brazen attempt to derail the public interest in order to serve their own interest of self-preservation, Justice Parthiban said, “When the entire State is geared to its fullest potential to tackle the unprecedented crisis, every citizen is a stakeholder in the fight and no particular class of citizens can claim to remain outside the perimeter of the collective effort to arrest the spread of the virus.’

Holding that the prayer sought was an unabashed attempt to wriggle out of their responsibility as government servants to serve their own, Justice Parthiban dismissed the plea as being devoid of merit and substance with cost of Rs 10,000, which should be paid by the association to the Chief Minister’s COVID-19 Relief Fund within two weeks.