UP govt mulling withdrawal of cases registered against traders for agitations: Minister

In an apparent bid to woo traders ahead of the 2019 parliamentary election, the Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday said it was mulling withdrawal of cases lodged against them for 'jan andolans' (people's agitations).

"We have asked traders' organisations across the state to prepare a list of persons booked during 'jan andolan', mention the cases against them and send the list to the government. We will look into it and withdraw the cases which were lodged during demonstrations such as 'chakka jam' (road blockade), gherao, arguments with officials, among others," Uttar Pradesh Law Minister Brijesh Pathak told PTI.

"As these cases were lodged by the government (individual vs government) and not due to personal rivalry, they would be considered for withdrawal," he said, adding that an application in this regard and other mandatory details have to be submitted to the government.

He said this issue was brought to his notice by various traders' organisations in which they claimed FIRs were registered due to "political vendetta" and public protests.

"An office-bearer of a traders' organisation was unaware a case was lodged against him. As he could not appear in court, he had to spend 81 days in jail. He was later released and the case was dropped," Pathak said, citing an example.

The minister said the state government was committed to the welfare of traders, who form the backbone of the economy and "will ensure that they are not exploited".

The minister said it has been decided to hold "panchayats" with the traders to know more about their problems so that various complex issues are resolved.

"In these panchayats, officers and traders will be present and attempts will be made to come up with on-the-spot solutions for the problems. We have asked the traders to identify issues so that panchayats could be organised with the departments concerned," he said.

The main objective is to provide relief to the traders, he said, adding that "such an initiative should not be seen from the political angle".

The Samajwadi Party attacked the BJP, saying the ruling party was trying to woo the trading community ahead of 2019 polls.

"It is good if they (the government) withdraw cases against the traders. But the intentions of the government are doubtful. They only want to gain political mileage from this as Lok Sabha elections are nearing. Had the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state been serious, they would not have broken the backbone of the traders by imposing demonetisation and GST," SP MLC Rajpal Kashyap said.