The Karad Bar Association has backed the sugarcane farmers’ protest led by Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana president Raju Shetti, saying its members will provide free legal representation if cases are filed against demonstrators.
The association announced its support at a meeting in Karad on October 15, as farmers continued their demand for a fair and remunerative price for sugarcane. The protest movement has included a road blockade near the Kognoli toll plaza on the Pune-Bengaluru highway to draw the state government’s attention to the issue.
The association said sugarcane farmers are central to the rural economy and that rising costs of production, labour, fertilisers, pesticides, transportation and other farm inputs have increased the need for better returns. It described the demand for a higher sugarcane price as justified and linked it to the economic interests of farming households.
Advocate Deepak Thorat, president of the Karad Bar Association, said the government should take the farmers’ demands seriously. He said the association supported the agitation for a fair price and that its members would conduct cases without charge if criminal proceedings were initiated against protesters.
The meeting was attended by association vice-president Advocate Amol Kanase, secretary Advocate Mayur M. Mane, joint secretary Advocate Rajvardhan Patil, treasurer Advocate Rohit Mali and Advocate Vidya Mhophrekar. Representatives of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana from Karad North and Karad South were also present, including Pramodsingh Jagdale, Bapu Yadav and Devanand Patil.
The association has urged the government to consider the farmers’ demands and take a positive decision on sugarcane pricing. The reported protest activity near the Kognoli toll plaza places the dispute on a key highway corridor connecting Maharashtra and Karnataka, with any further road blockade likely to affect highway movement.
