Sarpanches' protest: Punjab and Haryana High Court orders Police to clear road, says protesters don't have license to inconvenience public

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently observed that the right to protest does not give protestors the license to cause difficulty to the public at large [Neetu Bajaj vs State of Haryana]. .The Court, therefore, ordered the removal of blockades put up on roads as part of the protests against the BJP-JJP government by Sarpanches in Haryana. The observation were made in an order passed after a special sitting held on March 4, Saturday over the impasse between the Haryana government and the protesting Sarpanches in Panchkula. .A division bench of Justices Augustine George Masih and Vikram Aggarwal ordered the Haryana Police to clear the road connecting Panchkula and Chandigarh, where the Sarpanches had been staging a protest by blocking the entire road since March 2, resulting in inconvenience to citizens, especially those commuting between the two cities for work purposes. ."Protest by the unions or associations or people is permitted but at the places which have been earmarked for the same. This does not give them a licence to put the general public to inconvenience and cause not only difficulty for the people at large but virtually harassing them in a way leading to putting pressure and forcing the Government to accept their demands," the Court observed in the March 4 order..Each citizen, the bench said, has a right to commute, especially to perform their duties, whether it be as students, as doctors going to hospitals or clinics, as teachers going to the schools or colleges and even government employees going to their offices to perform duties cast upon them in accordance with law."Permitting law to be taken in hand by a few people is not acceptable," the Court underscored..The High Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by a doctor. The petitioner submitted that due to the ongoing protests, she was unable to reach to the hospital on time. .The petition further contended that the road block amounted to virtually harassing citizens as it was causing traffic jams not only on the main road but even on ancillary roads. Reportedly, Sarpanches across Haryana have been protesting an 'e-tendering' rule introduced by the State for infrastructure-related works in all villages. Such e-tendering being made mandatory, has not gone down well with the Sarpanches, who claim that the move is aimed at cutting the powers of the Panchayats.Though the protests have been on for about two months, it escalated after the Sarpanches Association blocked the Panchkula-Chandigarh road. Earlier, after the intervention of the police and the State authorities, the association undertook that it would open one side of the road but continue with its 'dharna' on the same site till March 9, when Haryana's Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is expected to meet the protesting Sarpanches. .The Court took note of this development but said that opening one side of the road itself would not be enough and that such an impasse should not have been allowed to happen in the first place. "Leniency and refrain to the extent which does not put the general public to peril and inconvenience is understandable. But when associations and organizations and even people at large get together to block any public road, Administration should take immediate steps to not let such a thing to happen which in our considered view, the authorities, in the present case, have failed to take note of leading to the situation which we are faced with," the Court opined. .While the Court appreciated efforts by the administration to amicably settle the matter, it added that such an approach cannot be permitted for all the times to come."Further, it cannot be assumed as to what would be the outcome of the meeting between the protesters and the Chief Minister. If the undertaking as has been given by the Haryana Sarpanches Association is accepted, that would virtually be giving free hand to them to continue blocking one side of the road which cannot be permitted," the bench added, while ordering the police to clear the site..Soon after the High Court's order on Saturday, the police had resorted to lathi charge to clear the road blocked by the protesting Sarpanches. However, after a while, the protesters returned to the site. .The next hearing is due to be held today when the authorities are also expected to furnish a compliance report before the Court. .Advocate Vishal Garg appeared for the petitioner. Additional Advocate General Deepak Sabherwal and advocate Abhinav Sood represented the State..[Read Order]