HC tells Jat protesters to clear rail tracks

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Friday directed Jat protesters to clear the rail tracks and roads at the earliest. It also directed the Union home secretary and UP principal secretary (home) and director general of police to take necessary steps to clear the traffic or else be held individually liable.
The court took suo motu cognisance of a TOI report published on March 18 highlighting cancellation of over 650 trains due to Jat agitation in Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, Chief Justice of the Allahabad high court Justice F I Rebello had directed registrar Harsh Kumar to treat the TOI news item as a public interest litigation and put up the matter for hearing on Friday itself. A division bench of Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice V K Dixit took up the matter and directed the top Central and state government officials to be present in the court at 4.30pm. DGP Karamveer Singh and state principal secretary (home) Kunwar Fateh Bahadur Singh appeared in the court.
In the course of hearing, UP advocate general Jyotindra Mishra placed the responsibility of not providing adequate forces to UP on the Centre. Strongly opposing the state’s view, additional solicitor general Ashok Nigam said law and order is the responsibility of the state. “If the state has adequate forces to crush political and lawyers’ agitations, why can’t it tackle the Jat agitation?” He insisted that if the state accepted its failure in tackling the law and order, then the Centre would be ready to deploy Central forces.