Chennai, July 11: The fate of over 3.5 lakh dismissed Tamil Nadu government employees, on strike for last ten days, hangs in balance as the Madras High Court is expected to deliver its verdict today on petitions challenging the validity of an ordinance promulgated by Governor P S Ramamohan Rao amending the Essential Services Maintenance Act. The government, in a bid to crush the strike, had dismissed the employees for their participation in the stir and started recruiting people on temporary basis to man the government offices. The deadline set by the government for the striking employees to submit the explanation for their absence ended last evening and the response was not encouraging as the employees were waiting for the court verdict. Bureau Report