'Infructuous' : Supreme Court Disposes Plea Against Road Blockade Due To Farmers Protests

The Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of the writ petition filed by a Noida resident against the road blockade at Delhi-NCR border as part of the farmer protests, observing the issue to have become infructuous. The writ petition was filed by one Monicca Agarwal, who had to regularly travel from Noida to Delhi in connection with her job. In her petition she had pointed out the difficulties faced by daily commuters, especially a single mother like her who had several medical complications, because of the road blockade at the Delhi-NCR border. On the last date of hearing, the Solicitor General of India, Mr. Tushar Mehta had requested the Bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh to adjourn the matter in view of the fact that the Parliament on 29th November had passed the "Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021" to repeal the contentious farm laws. The Petitioner lauded the Bench for taking a strong view against the road blockade during the course of the hearings. In this regard, it is pertinent to mention that when the PIL was taken up for hearing on 30th September, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had orally observed that - "Redressal can be through judicial forum agitation or parliamentary debates but how can highways be blocked and this cannot be a perpetual problem." On 7th October 2020, Justice Kaul along with Justices Anirudhha Bose and Krishna Murari had delivered a judgment in the Shaheen Bagh protest matter holding the view that public roads ought not to be obstructed in the name of protests. Protests should be held only at designated places. Refusing to take credit for resolving the present issue, the Bench stated that it was possible to sort it out as the parties decided to sit and settle the matter. The Government had decided to repeal the laws and assured to cooperate with the other demands of the farmers, after which farmers called off the protests and returned home. [Case Title: Monicca Agarwal v. Union Of India & Anr, WP(C) 249 of 2021] Click Here To Read/Download Order

'Infructuous' : Supreme Court Disposes Plea Against Road Blockade Due To Farmers Protests

Sohini Chowdhury

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