Reliance moves HC against vandalism of telecom towers

Reliance Jio Infocomm filed this petition on Monday, and requested for an urgent direction to the government authorities in the state and at the Centre to protect its communication infrastructure as well as ensure safety of its employees.

The Punjab and Haryana high court will on Tuesday hear a petition by Reliance Jio for taking action against miscreants damaging its network infrastructure and other commercial properties in Punjab.

Reliance Jio, in its petition, has maintained that its parent company, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), or any retail arm or affiliates have “no interest and does not intend in future to do corporate or contract farming”. (PTI)

Reliance Jio, in its petition, has maintained that its parent company, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), or any retail arm or affiliates have “no interest and does not intend in future to do corporate or contract farming” while alleging that business rivals with vested interests are taking advantage of the ongoing farmers’ protests.

In its petition, the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has also emphasised that the conglomerate and its retail arms have not purchased any agricultural land directly or indirectly for the purpose of farming.

Underscoring that Jio and RIL have greatest regard for the hard work of the farmers, the petition added that RIL affiliates have never entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain “unfair advantage over” farmers or their produce.

Reliance Jio Infocomm filed this petition on Monday, and requested for an urgent direction to the government authorities in the state and at the Centre to protect its communication infrastructure as well as ensure safety of its employees.

The firm’s counsel, Ashish Chopra said that the high court agreed to list their petition for a hearing on Tuesday.

The petition has stated that 1,500 telecom towers operated by Reliance Jio were vandalised and rendered inoperative, crippling the mobile network in Punjab, where the telecom company has 14 million subscribers.

While the subscribers are compelled to port to other networks, the plea said, the acts of vandalism have also endangered lives of thousands of its employees.

The plea claims it has been has been targeted in Punjab, as those with “vested interests” are taking advantage of the farmers’ agitation against the recently enacted contentious agricultural laws.

The petition demands that state be directed to take steps to prevent further damage to its infrastructure and take action against the miscreants and vested interests, who caused destruction.

Jio also seeks appointment of a competent authority to assess the damages to be recovered from the miscreants in terms of a judgment by the Supreme Court, which laid down that rioters must be made to pay for destruction of public or private properties.

“The destruction has been done in a well orchestrated manner, which is result of a sustained disinformation campaign being carried out by vested interests,” stated the plea, demanding that adequate security arrangements be made to stop vandalism of its infrastructure.

Telecom infra owned by the company has been targeted in parts of Punjab by protesters who have alleged that the contentious new farm laws are meant to benefit certain corporate houses at the cost of ordinary farmers. The laws change the way India’s farmers do business by creating free markets, as opposed to a network of decades-old, government marketplaces, allowing traders to stockpile essential commodities for future sales and laying down a national framework for contract farming.

These laws are The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.

Together, the laws will allow big corporations and global supermarket chains to buy directly from farmers, bypassing decades-old regulations.

Farmers say the reforms will make them vulnerable to exploitation by big corporations, erode their bargaining power and weaken the procurement system, whereby the government buys staples such as wheat and rice at guaranteed rates.