Kochi: A petition has been filed in the Kerala High Court seeking contempt action against three UDF MLAs, including senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, in connection with the ongoing strike by Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) health workers outside the Secretariat in the state capital.

The petition was heard on Thursday by a bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S Manu, who directed the Registry to place the matter before the special bench handling such litigation.

The plea by Ernakulam resident N Prakash claimed that the protesters have encroached on the footpath and road in front of the Secretariat by placing chairs there.

As a result, the footpath has been completely blocked, and vehicular traffic has also been affected.

In addition to Chennithala, the other respondents include UDF MLAs M Vincent and K K Rema, former MLA Joseph M Puthussery, State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb, Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan, and several office bearers of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association.

Prakash had earlier filed a contempt plea against CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan in connection with a party conference that had blocked one side of the road outside the Vanchiyoor court complex in Thiruvananthapuram in December last year.

That matter is still pending before the High Court.

In his latest petition, he contended that Chennithala and the other political leaders should not have attended the protest, which resulted in blocking the footpath and road outside the Secretariat.

He also pointed out that there are several judicial orders from the High Court prohibiting the blocking of footpaths and roads for agitations or public meetings.

A large number of ASHA workers have been agitating in front of the Secretariat since February 10, raising various demands, including the release of their pending incentives and honorarium.