Farmers Protests Can't Block Road Traffic : Supreme Court Urges Centre To 'Find Solution'

Remarking that farmers protests cannot block road traffic, the Supreme Court today asked the Union of India, UP and Haryana Governments to find a solution.The Court was hearing a writ petition filed by Monicca Agarwaal, a resident of Noida, who had alleged that travelling to Delhi from Noida for her marketing job had become a nightmare as it took 2 hours instead of 20 minutes due to the road blockade. A division bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice Hrishikesh Roy while dictating the order remarked that, "It is stated that the petitioner has some problem. The solution lies in the hands of the Union of India & State. If the protests are on, the traffic should not be stopped in any manner, so that to & fro for people is not disturbed." In the hearing today, Justice SK Kaul, the presiding judge of the bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, "Why can't you find the solution? They have a right to protest but inflow & outflow can't be interrupted."Farmers have been protesting since November last year near Delhi-NCR regions demanding the withdrawal of three farm laws passed by the Parliament in 2020. On July 19, 2021, the Top Court had directed the State of Uttar Pradesh and State of Haryana to file their response as to how blockade will be removed. Pursuant to Top Court's direction, the State of Uttar Pradesh in their affidavit had said that it is making all efforts to make farmers understand that their grossly illegal act of blocking roads was causing grave inconvenience to travellers. On April 19, 2021 bench comprising Justice SK Kaul & Justice Hemant Gupta while adjourning the plea remarked, "Don't obstruct the life of other people there. You may want to construct a village, and you can do that. But not at the cost of other's inconvenience." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed that an endeavour was being done from their side concerning the directions issued by this Court. The petitioner, appearing in person, had averred that despite the various directions passed by this Court to keep the to and fro passage clear (the roads), the same still did not happen. On April 9, 2021, the Bench comprising Justice SK Kaul & Justice Hemant Gupta had impleaded the State of Haryana and the State of Uttar Pradesh as respondents in the petition. The division bench had dictated in their Order that "public streets should not be blocked" and that this was an aspect that had been emphasized repeatedly in previous orders of the Supreme Court.The matter will now be heard on September 20, 2021. Case Title: Monicca Agarwaal V. Union Of India & Anr | WP(C) 249 of 2021Click Here To Read/ Download Order

Farmers Protests Can't Block Road Traffic : Supreme Court Urges Centre To 'Find Solution'

Shruti Kakkar

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