Nagpur: The Bombay high court here on Tuesday sought response of the Union and Maharashtra governments and some media houses on a petition filed by two associations of journalists challenging “cuts in salaries and termination of employment”.
The Maharashtra Union of Working Journalists (MUWJ) and the Nagpur Union of Working Journalists (NWUJ) requested that the action of sacking of employees and cutting their salaries by six leading Marathi and English newspapers be declared illegal.
These newspapers are named as respondents by the petitioners.
The plea said that employees of media houses are working even during the COVID-19 lockdown, and by terminating their services or refusing to renew their contracts, the media organisations are indulging in inhuman and illegal practices.
The petition said that several newspaper organisations are either terminating services of their employees or forcing them to resign in an “arbitrary manner”.
A division bench of Justices S.B. Shukre and A.S. Kilor posted the petition for further hearing after four weeks.