Supreme Court forms committee to negotiate with farmers protesting at Shambhu border
‘We caution the agitating farmers to keep themselves at a safe distance from the political parties, political issues,’ the bench said.
The Supreme Court on Monday set up a high-powered committee to resolve the grievances of farmers protesting at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana, reported PTI.
The committee will be headed by Justice Nawab Singh, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan instructed the committee to hold its first meeting within a week.
The court was hearing the Haryana government’s petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s July 10 order to open the Shambhu border, which has been closed to public transport for over five months.
The border was heavily blockaded in February to stop protesting farmers from marching to Delhi. The farmers’ groups have been pushing for a law guaranteeing a minimum support price for agricultural commodities.
The protestors have since occupied the area and obstructed a national highway.
On Monday, the court urged the protestors to remove their tractors and trolleys from the site to relieve commuters, reported Live Law. It also asked the farmers not to engage with political parties.
“We caution the agitating farmers to keep themselves at a safe distance from the political parties, political issues, and not to insist on such demands which are not feasible to be accepted outrightly,” said the bench.
It added: “Those who are aware of the ground reality of both the states, we have tried to make a balanced composition, the farmers have genuine issues, should be dealt by a neutral body, nobody else should be allowed to unnecessarily rake up the issues.”
The court also said that the protesting farmers would be at liberty to shift to an alternate site identified by the authorities. It noted that the Haryana government had submitted an affidavit stating that alternate sites had been identified where farmers could protest peacefully.
In the previous hearing on August 12, the Supreme Court directed the Punjab and Haryana governments to hold a meeting within one week and lay down rules for partially opening up the Shambhu border.
This came after Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh requested that the blockade be relaxed to allow the passage of vehicles engaged in essential services and for daily commuters.
