Farmers' protests: Lawyers at various Delhi district courts hold protests in solidarity

Lawyers held peaceful protests at various district court complexes in the national capital on Tuesday in support of farmers' agitation against the new farm laws.

While lawyers at Karkardooma district courts held a protest march raising slogans to take back the laws, lawyers at Tis Hazari district courts held a meeting in solidarity with the farmers and put forward certain demands on their behalf.

At the Tis Hazari protest meeting, advocate Rajiv Khosla, Chief Coordinator of the Action Committee of the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD), said the government should put a condition in the farm laws that private companies pay 5 per cent above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm produce, and in case of default they may be subjected to criminal action ranging from 3-5 year punishment, said a statement.

According to the statement issued jointly by the BCD and the Coordination Committee of all district courts bar association in Delhi, Khosla said the action committee of lawyers would soon give a call for all India agitation in case the demands were not met and soon fix a date for it after consulting with several state Bar councils and Bar associations.

According to the statement, Sanjeev Nasiar, Chairman of the Co-ordination Committee, said the government was conspiring to suppress the voice of the people by alleging that every movement against the Centre was led by anti-national people and trying to project through false propaganda via social media that the farmers agitation has been backed by 'Khalistan'.

Nasiar further said in the meeting that the Bar Associations stand with the farmer community on their demands and in case the government tried to implicate the farmers in any false case, then the lawyers would provide all legal help to them at all levels.

Also Read: Will demand 'yes or no' from Amit Shah when we meet him: Farmer leaders

As per the statement, Khosla said the alleged illegal step of the government for getting the disputes adjudicated from Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and Additional District Magistrate (ADM) instead of Judges was aimed only to deprive the farmers from getting any justice as these officials were always under the thumb and control of ministers and MLAs.

He said the government action in deleting the staples - potatoes, tomatoes and onions - from the Essential Commodities Act was allegedly aimed at providing heavy profits to big traders and would deprive the common citizen from purchasing these at an unaffordable price while there would be no penal action against the big traders for keeping them locked in their godowns, the statement said.

Advocate Satya Prakash Gautam said around 100 lawyers held a protest march inside the Karkardooma courts premises showing solidarity with the farmers' agitation.

“We are with the farmers. If the government or the police takes any illegal and unconstitutional action against them, we will fight with them for free till the Supreme Court if need arises. We demand that the amendment be withdrawn,” Gautam said.

Enacted in September, the new farm laws have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of MSP and scrap the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates. The Centre has repeatedly asserted that these mechanisms will remain.