Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday announced the government’s decision to withdraw all cases registered against farmers and teachers during the previous regime when they had staged peaceful protests seeking redressal of their demands.
Making the announcement in the Assembly under Rule 110, the CM said the cases had been registered between May 2021 and April 2026 against farmers and teachers who had raised demands concerning their livelihoods, rights and social welfare.
He said the government had decided to withdraw the cases on humanitarian and democratic grounds, asserting that it respected the people’s right to freedom of expression, the right to protest and other democratic rights.
Referring to the protests by farmers, Vijay said several cases registered against them for various agitations demanding their rights continued to remain pending. He specifically referred to the protests against the SIPCOT industrial estate project in Tiruvannamalai district, stating that cases had been registered against participating farmers and that the Goondas Act had also been invoked against some of them.
He also referred to the farmers’ continuing protests against the proposed airport at Parandur. The farmers had opposed the project on the grounds that agricultural land, water bodies and their livelihoods would be affected, and had demanded that the project be abandoned. Cases registered against them by the previous government continued to remain pending, he said.
Describing farmers as the backbone of society and vital to the country’s economic progress and food security, the CM said they deserved to be respected for their contribution.
Vijay also said teachers, who played a key role in promoting education and social progress, had faced cases while fighting through democratic means for their legitimate demands and rights. The pending cases had caused considerable mental distress to teachers, he said.
He said the government would stand by farmers and teachers and support their legitimate demands.
The decision to withdraw the cases would not only further strengthen democratic rights but also reinforce trust between ordinary people and the government, Vijay said.
