Updated: December 16, 2020 4:43:54 pm
Farmers protest against central farm laws on the Singhu, New Delhi border on December 14, 2020 (Express photo: Abhinav Saha)
Noting that the Center’s negotiations with farmers protesting against the agrarian reform laws have yielded no results, the Supreme Court said Wednesday that it could form a committee to find a solution between the two parties. The ongoing protests, now in their third week, have seen thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, gather at the capital’s gate.
Hearing a batch of petitions seeking the expulsion of protesting farmers near Delhi’s borders, a bank of the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued a notice to the Center and published the matter for your hearing on Thursday.
The court said the proposed committee would consist of representatives of the government and farmers unions across the country to solve the stalemate on farm laws.
“Their negotiations with protesting farmers have apparently not worked so far,” the high court said, adding that protesting farmers’ unions should be part of the case. So far, the government and farmers’ union leaders have held five rounds of talks without much progress.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Tushar Mehta told the court that the government would not do anything against the interests of farmers.
The statement was made by one Rishabh Sharma, a law student, who maintained that “due to the ongoing protest at the Delhi borders, roads have been blocked by protesters and border points closed, which has affected the vehicular traffic and people traveling to and from Delhi for medical treatment at reputable public / private hospitals located in Delhi are also affected ”.
The statement said protesters were “blocking roads for all medical / emergency services” required in the national capital for those affected by the virus.
Farmers have expressed fear that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of the big corporations. The government has argued that the new laws would provide better opportunities for farmers.
On Wednesday, the farmers’ unions sent a written response to the government, rejecting his proposal of December 9 in which he offered important concessions. An official from the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed to The Indian Express that the government received a written response from the farmers’ unions. However, he declined to answer questions about whether the government would send an invitation to speak with farmers.
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