Tamil Nadu to withdraw cases against protesting farmers, teachers: CM Vijay

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay informed the Assembly on Wednesday that police cases pending against farmers who peacefully protested for their rights opposing Parandur airport and SIPCOT industrial park expansion projects will be withdrawn.

Similarly, cases against teachers who protested in a democratic manner for their rights and demands will be dropped, he said and asserted that the withdrawal of cases would further strengthen democratic rights and deepen the trust between the ordinary people and the government.

Making a statement in the House, Vijay said that it has been decided to withdraw all those cases on humanitarian grounds and based on democratic principles.


During the previous regime, many cases were filed between May 2021 and April 2026 against farmers and teachers who fought for their livelihoods and rights.

Tracing the background, he said in Tiruvannamalai district, cases were registered against farmers who participated in protests opposing the SIPCOT project and some farmers were even booked under the Goondas Act. Similarly, farmers engaged in continuous protests against the Parandur project.

The Parandur airport project has been recently dropped by the TVK government.

"Cases registered inhumanely by the previous government remain pending against these farmers, who protested demanding the scrapping of the airport project out of concern that their agricultural lands, water bodies, and livelihoods would be affected," the CM said.

Outlining the rationale behind the executive decision, the Chief Minister emphasised that peaceful protest is a fundamental democratic right, particularly when citizens are defending their basic livelihoods.

"Farmers are the backbone of our nation's food security, while teachers form the absolute foundation of societal progress by lighting the lamp of education," the Chief Minister said.

"It is grossly unfair that those who build our country were subjected to legal harassment simply for voicing reasonable demands," he said, referencing the farmers' protest in Parandur and against the industrial project in SIPCOT, Tiruvannamalai.

Such cases have caused immense mental agony for the affected farmers and teachers, he said.

Recognising teachers as the foundation of societal progress, the Chief Minister said distress was caused to them by pending legal cases for protesting for their reasonable demands.