The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday allowed the extension of paramilitary forces deployment in Punjab's Patiala city till September 26, in view of farmers' protest scheduled to begin on Friday.
The court accepted the plea of Punjab Advocate General Atul Nanda saying the paramilitary forces, which were already in Punjab till September 20 in the wake of the Dera Sacha Sauda violence, should be allowed to remain in Patiala for a longer period.
Various farmers' organisations have called a protest in Patiala, the hometown of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, to highlight the failure of his government to fulfil promises of loan waiver and other demands of farmers.
The Advocate General submitted in the court that 7.5 acres area had been earmarked in Sher Majra Dana Mandi, about 5 km from Patiala city, for holding the protest.
The high court had on Wednesday ordered the farmers' unions to take prior permission for their proposed protest and also directed the state government to ensure strict enforcement of Section 144 of the CrPC and to ensure that there is "no free entry to the Patiala city".
The court orders came on a Public Interest Litigation filed by a Patiala-based lawyer Mohit Kapoor, who, in his petition, said that the proposed protest was illegal and would cause immense problems to the residents, besides creating a law and order situation.
Various organisations, including Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) (Ugrahan), BKU (Dakonda), BKU Krantikari (Phool Group), BKU Krantikari (Shinder Group), Kirti Kisan Union, Kisan Sangharsh Committee (Pannu Group) and Ajad Sangharsh Committee, were the respondents to the petition, besides the state and union government.
--IANS
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