UP Farmers Get Notice Of Rs 50 Lakh For Protests
- 18-Dec-2020
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Days after notices were sent by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate in UP's Sambhal asking farm leaders to submit personal bonds of Rs 50 lakh each to prevent them from “inciting” farmers to join the protests against the Centre's new laws, police claimed the amount was “a clerical error” and will be reduced. But leaders said it, the notice itself is a means to “throttle democratic protest”.
The notices for Rs 50 lakh each were sent to six leaders in Sambhal, mainly office-bearers of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Asli).
Similar notices seeking bonds of Rs 5 lakh each were sent to six others. They were issued on December 12 and 13 under section 111 of the CrPC, which authorises the magistrate to send a show-cause notice under a bond.
“I have spoken to the SDM and there will be fresh notices following the error," Sambhal SP Chakresh Mishra told The Indian Express. “The SDM is currently on leave and once he comes back we will look to issue a bond of Rs 50,000 since the earlier one was a clerical error,” said Arun Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Sambhal.
But the farm leaders said they “would rather be in jail than give in to these tactics”.
“They decided on a random number as long as it could deter us from protesting. It's a non-violent protest. Why is the administration so afraid of farmers protesting? They have mentioned Rs 50 lakh as if we are terrorists. They know that we do not have that kind of money," said Rajpal Singh Yadav, district president of BKU (Asli), who is among the six who have been served notices seeking Rs 50 lakh in personal bond.
