Workers of Nokia's Sriperumbudur, Chennai-based manufacturing facility will move the Delhi High court on Saturday seeking its permission to implead in the ongoing dispute between the handset maker and tax authorities.

M Saravanakumar, president of Nokia India Thozhilar Sangam, said, that they wanted the court to allow them to implead in the case as the issue concerned the lives of 30,000 people.

Speaking on the planned move, Saravanakumar said, "We will move the Delhi High Court on Saturday, pleading the court to allow us to implead in the case. We will request the court to consider it, as the issue concerns the lives of 30,000 people."

The Indian I-T Department had slapped the tax demand notice on the Indian arm of Nokia for violating withholding the country's tax norms since 2006 while paying royalties to its Finland-based parent company.

Nokia has already moved the Delhi High Court urging it to direct the tax department to unfreeze its Chennai assets so that these assets could also be transferred to Microsoft as part of the two companies' US$7.2 billion deal.

The Finland-based handset maker also threatened that it could, in the worst scenario, shut down the Chennai plant, which would affect the lives of thousands of people. But, a senior official for the Indian finance ministry recently declared that Nokia would have to pay its total tax liability before getting its assets released.