Madurai: Madras high court has directed the transport department to file a report on incidents of missing ticket books reported in transport corporations in the state in the past five years, and steps taken by the management to prevent it.
Therefore, they were placed under suspension and issued a charge memo. The petitioners immediately reported the incident to the branch managers, and thereafter lodged a complaint before the concerned police about the missing ticket books.
Counsel for the petitioners said there was no locker facility available inside the bus. The court was hearing petitions filed by V Ashok and U M Arulkumar, conductors in TNSTC and State Express Transport Corporation respectively. some unused ticket books were found missing While they were on duty. Pending departmental proceedings, the respective branch managers had ordered for recovery of the face value of the unused ticket books from the petitioners’ salary. Aggrieved, they have filed the present petition.
On the other hand, the settlement under Section 12(3) of Industrial Disputes Act, stipulates that no recovery can be made in a case of theft, robbery and accident. The case was posted for hearing on Nov 2. Because they don’t have a safety locker, justice Pugalendhi observed that the petitioners contented that they are losing ticket books, when they are parking the bus in the bus stand and in motels.
It is reported that similar incidents are continuously taking place.