The statewide indefinite strike launched by all district and sessions court employees in Maharashtra severely crippled work on Tuesday. Nearly 1,500 employees from 113 courts in Nagpur district participated in the stir. Of them, some 1,000 skipped work at 90 courts in city limits while 500 from 23 courts at taluka level joined them. The employees raised slogans against alleged 'partial' attitude of the state government and vowed to protest till their demands were met.

Over 40,000 staff of lower courts started their indefinite stir in protest against non-implementation of a Supreme Court order directing the Maharashtra government to grant them a pay hike. The apex court had appointed the Shetty Commission to consider their demand. The panel had directed, on October 7 last year, the government to give the staff a pay hike. However, the government is yet to implement panel's recommendations, the striking staffers said.

The functioning of all lower courts was affected as judges took help of on-duty police personnel for various works, sources said. The district court complex in Civil Lines wore a deserted look and many judges preferred to adjourn cases to a later date. The staffers continued with the stir even after Bombay High Court and the state of law and judiciary department appealed not to do so.

In last November too staffers had gone on a day's strike, crippling court functioning. The indefinite stir was planned in February, but higher authorities in judiciary assured them that the issue would be placed before the government in March.