The Supreme Court on Thursday remarked that the Punjab government appeared to be opposed to any reconciliation with farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike since November 26, Live Law reported.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan clarified that it had not issued any directions for Dallewal to end his fast, and said that the state government should impress upon him that he could continue his hunger strike even after being shifted to a hospital.

Dallewal, chief of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), has been on an indefinite fast at Khanauri, located on the Punjab-Haryana border.

The hunger strike is part of a wider campaign by Punjab’s farm groups to press the Union government to accept their demand for legally guaranteed minimum support prices. The minimum support price is the cost at which the government procures crops from farmers.

On December 28, the Supreme Court gave time to the Punjab government till December 31 to convince Dallewal to move to a hospital. The vacation bench rebuked the state for not adhering to its earlier directives mandating medical care for the farmer leader.

Kant on Thursday said that the court’s intentions appeared to have been misinterpreted as a directive to end Dallewal’s fast, according to Live Law.

“Our directions were not to break his fast,” the judge said. “We only said that let his health part be taken care of and he can continue his peaceful protest even when he is hospitalised. You have to persuade him from this angle.”

Advocate General Gurminder Singh, representing the Punjab government, said that Dallewal’s stand was that he would accept medical help only if the Centre was willing to hold talks with protesting farmers’ groups.

Kant then asked Singh if the government had informed Dallewal that the court had formed a committee in September to address farmers’ grievances, to which the advocate general responded in the affirmative.

However, the judge asked the Punjab government if it had properly conveyed to Dallewal that it was open to resolving farmers’ grievances, Bar and Bench reported.

“Don’t make us say things,” Kant said. “Your attitude is that there should be no conciliation. That is the problem…There are people making irresponsible statements and we know the intentions. There are farm leaders who are doing this. What are their bonafides for Mr. Dallewal should also be looked into.”

The advocate general said that the state government was trying to “work out a positive situation” and asked for more time. The court then agreed to defer the matter till January 6.

The Supreme Court on Thursday also issued a notice to the Centre for a response to a petition by Dallewal seeking directions to the Union government to comply with promises made to protesting farmers in 2021, including the legal guarantee for minimum support prices, PTI reported.