E-Paper
Sarpanches protest: High court seeks SOPs against blockades in Panchkula
The HC bench of justice AG Masih and justice Vikram Aggarwal sought specific affidavits from the home secretary and Haryana director general of police (DGP) and Panchkula deputy commissioner (DC) on SOPs or plans in place to ensure such a situation does not arise in future.
The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has sought a standard operating procedure (SOP) from Panchkula administration against road blockades by protesters, as was witnessed during sarpanches’ protest, by March 15.
The HC bench of justice AG Masih and justice Vikram Aggarwal sought specific affidavits from the home secretary and Haryana director general of police (DGP) and Panchkula deputy commissioner (DC) on SOPs or plans in place to ensure such a situation does not arise in future.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Neetu Bajaj, a doctor, and Shivani Sahni, a lawyer. Residents of Panchkula, the duo had sought directions to the administration to remove the blockade as it was resulting in huge traffic jams on roads between Panchkula and Chandigarh.
The PIL was filed and taken up for hearing on Saturday, following which the HC gave the administration time until 10pm to remove the protesters from the site. The sarpanches had blocked the Housing Board Chowk since March 1, in protest against the Haryana government’s orders of e-tendering of development works in villages. The agitation had led to widespread chaos on Panchkula roads.
During the hearing on Monday, the court was told that on March 4, Haryana sarpanch association president Ranbir Singh and some other leaders had unlawfully assembled at the area and were told to vacate. Later in the day, senior police officials had informed protesters of the HC order and consequently, all blockades were removed and the agitators were moved away from the spot in buses. Hence, the directions by the court were complied with by 9 pm. A criminal case was also registered against some persons on March 1 for unlawful assembly and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Posting the matter for March 15, the court observed that it was satisfied about the steps taken for removal of the blockades. However, it added, “This is a matter relatable to only one access road to Chandigarh from Panchkula. There are other access roads as well which need to be taken care of by the administration of Panchkula district. Perusal of the affidavit would not indicate as to what are the plans in place so that such a situation, as had arisen earlier, does not repeat,” it observed seeking an SOP from the administration by March 15.
