MSEDCL Petitions Court Against Illegal 72-Hour Strike by Joint Action Committee

Mumbai, 10th October 2025: The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) filed a petition in the Mumbai Industrial Court against the Joint Action Committee of seven electricity employees’ unions for launching what it termed an illegal 72-hour strike, even as conciliation proceedings were ongoing in the Labour Commissioner’s Office.

However, during the court hearing on Friday, the Joint Action Committee announced that it was withdrawing from the strike after 24 hours. According to Mahavitaran officials, around 62.56 percent of engineers, officers, and employees of MSEDCL, MahaTransco, and MAHAGENCO continued to report for duty during the one-and-a-half-day strike period, while 37.44 percent participated in the protest.

The Joint Action Committee, representing seven of the 29 unions in Mahavitaran, had earlier issued a 72-hour strike notice over issues including the company’s restructuring and other employee-related demands. In response, senior officials — including Additional Chief Secretary (Energy) Abha Shukla, MSEDCL CMD Lokesh Chandra, and directors Sachin Talewar and Rajendra Pawar — held several meetings with union representatives and expressed a positive and accommodating stance on their concerns.

Minutes of these meetings and written appeals urging employees to avoid the strike were also issued. MSEDCL clarified that the ongoing restructuring of sub-divisions was a trial initiative to improve customer service and that final implementation would be done only after mutual agreement between the management and employee unions.

Despite these assurances, the Joint Action Committee proceeded with the strike. MSEDCL noted that the timing was particularly concerning as Maharashtra is currently recovering from heavy rains and floods, and the Diwali festival is approaching. “All government agencies, including Mahavitaran, are working on a war footing. We had appealed to employees to fulfill their duty of maintaining uninterrupted power supply during this crucial period,” the company said in a statement.

Under the Industrial Disputes Act, strikes are prohibited while conciliation proceedings are in progress. Moreover, since electricity supply is classified as an essential service, the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) is in force across the state.

MSEDCL filed its petition in the Industrial Court on Thursday (October 9), terming the strike illegal. Following the filing, the court issued a notice to the Joint Action Committee. During the hearing on Friday morning, the committee informed the court that it was calling off the strike after 24 hours.