HC orders Kadu, protesters to vacate national highway; says agitation continued without permission

Nagpur, Oct 29 (PTI) The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed Prahar Janshakti Party leader Bachchu Kadu and his supporters to immediately vacate the National Highway on the city's outskirts where they are staging a protest seeking full farm loan waiver.

A vacation bench of Justice Rajnish Vyas took suo motu (on its own) cognizance of the issue from media reports, and said Kadu and his supporters were continuing the agitation without permission.

The court said the right of the protesters can not be ignored, but the fact remains that a public road, more particularly, a National Highway, is blocked by the protestors which certainly violates fundamental right of the citizens to move freely throughout territory of India.

"Role of judiciary in such situation is required to be of proactive nature, it being protector of fundamental rights guaranteed under our Constitution," the court said.

Thousands of protesters led by former Maharashtra minister Omprakash alias Bachchu Kadu are participating in the 'Maha Elgar Morcha'.

The high court on Wednesday noted that on October 26, the police had granted permission to Kadu to carry out agitation on October 28 at Mouza Parsodi in Nagpur only for a day.

"Prima facie, it is clear that without there being any permission, agitation/protest still continued and problem faced by the public at large has increased," HC said.

The bench ordered Kadu to remove himself and his supporters from the agitation site immediately.

The removal shall be in peaceful manner without causing any disturbance to law and order situation and public peace, HC said.

If any damage is caused to public property then stern action shall be taken against Kadu and his supporters, it added.

If Kadu and the protestors fail to remove themselves from the streets and other public places where protest is going on, police authorities are directed to take all necessary steps for removal of protestors and restoring flow of traffic to normalcy, the court said.

The bench directed the Nagpur city police commissioner to submit a compliance report on Thursday morning.

It added that if there are any specially abled persons at the protest, then they shall be removed with dignity.

Justice Vyas said extreme inconvenience was suffered by public at large due to traffic congestion on National Highway No 44, which is commonly called as Wardha Road, on account of agitation/protest raised by more than 10,000 protestors demanding loan waiver, under leadership of former MLA Omprakash alias Bachchu Kadu.

"Travelers have experienced 20 kilometer traffic jam and not only private vehicles could not move but also ambulances and police vehicles," it said.

The Nagpur airport lies on the highway which is also used for reaching the National Cancer Institute. A hospital and several schools are on the highway and it is connected to the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, the court pointed out.

The government was represented by advocate Devendra Chauhan during the hearing. PTI CLS SP KRK