M A I N   N E W S

Punjab Govt promises to take up farmers’ case with Modi
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 3
The Punjab Government today assured the farmers of Gujarat, who are facing eviction from lands in Kutch area, that it would take up their case with the state Chief Minister Narendra Modi and also promised to underwrite the cost of the legal battle in the Supreme Court.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who met a delegation of farmers, here said the Shiromani Akali Dal felt the cause was just. The party would lead a team of Punjab MPs to meet Modi and take up their case.

The Kutch farmers are camping in the capital and seeking support in their battle to retain the right to hold on to their lands in the region after the Gujarat government froze their land invoking various tenancy and agriculture land Acts. Earlier, the farmers obtained relief against eviction from the Gujarat High Court but the state government chose to appeal against it the apex court.

To provide immediate relief to the farmers, who have to pay to lawyers to take up their case in the Supreme Court, the Deputy CM said the state government would bear the full cost of their legal battle.

He directed the state Advocate General to hire senior lawyers to represent the farmers in the Supreme Court. He also asked party senior vice president Balwant Singh Ramoowalia to coordinate the SAD’s efforts in the case, a state government release said here.

On his part, Ramoowalia, who brought the plight of the Gujarat farmers to the notice of the Deputy CM, thanked him for taking a firm stand that Punjabis, who had given their lives for the country and the progress of various states, should be allowed to breathe freely.