courtesy  HT JAN 5

Reliance moves HC against vandalism of telecom towers
HT Correspondent

letters@hindustantimes.com

Chandigarh : The Punjab and Haryana high court will on Tuesday hear a petition by Reliance Jio for taking action against miscreants damaging its network infrastructure and other commercial properties in Punjab.

Reliance Jio, in its petition, has maintained that its parent company, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), or any retail arm or affiliates have “no interest and does not intend in future to do corporate or contract farming” while alleging that business rivals with vested interests are taking advantage of the ongoing farmers’ protests.

In its petition, the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has also emphasised that the conglomerate and its retail arms have not purchased any agricultural land directly or indirectly for the purpose of farming.

Underscoring that Jio and RIL have greatest regard for the hard work of the farmers, the petition added that RIL affiliates have never entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain “unfair advantage over” farmers or their produce.

Reliance Jio Infocomm filed this petition on Monday, and requested for an urgent direction to the government authorities in the state and at the Centre to protect its communication infrastructure as well as ensure safety of its employees.

The firm’s counsel, Ashish Chopra said that the high court agreed to list their petition for a hearing on Tuesday.

The petition has stated that 1,500 telecom towers operated by Reliance Jio were vandalised, crippling the mobile network in Punjab, where the telecom company has 14 million subscribers.

While subscribers are compelled to port to other networks, the plea said, the acts of vandalism have also endangered lives of thousands of its employees.

The plea claims it has been targeted in Punjab, as those with “vested interests” are taking advantage of the farmers’ agitation against the recently enacted contentious agricultural laws.

Jio also seeks appointment of a competent authority to assess the damages to be recovered from the miscreants in terms of a judgment by the Supreme Court, which laid down that rioters must be made to pay for destruction of properties.