New Delhi: Anxious traders here on Sunday expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would give a favourable directive on Monday on the sealing issue but warned the Government that they would launch a nationwide protest if it resumed the drive.

Traders' strategy

As the Government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi approached the apex court for deferring the drive, the ``anxious but hopeful'' traders, who met twice in the day here to fine-tune their strategy, said the court would take into consideration their ``future.''

``We are worried and anxiously waiting. We have belief in the judiciary and hope that it will take into consideration our future while deciding on the matter,'' Confederation of All India Traders Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal told PTI.

``We think that after the court directive, there will be some kind of deliberations in the Government level. We are waiting for that and hope that the drive will not be resumed,'' he said.

Various trade bodies across the country have expressed their solidarity with the Delhi shopkeepers who are facing sealing of shops operating in residential areas and have threatened to call a `Bharat Bandh' if the government resumed the drive.

Non-cooperation movement

``They have also told us that we should think about a non-cooperation movement like not paying tax if the drive is re-started. We may be forced to call a nationwide bandh or other protest measures if the drive is resumed,'' Mr. Khandelwal said.

``Not a single time, the plight of lakhs of families are taken into consideration. But we now feel that in the past few days, we were able to bring about a change in the perception,'' he said, adding that this could have an impact when the court hears the matter. — PTI

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