NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked a high-level committee, set up to amicably resolve the grievances of farmers who staged an agitation on the Punjab-Haryana Shambu border in 2024, to submit its report and recommendations.
The farmers were protesting against a slew of demands, including a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for their produce.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalia Bagchi noted that the issue related to the closure of highways, especially at the Shambu border, had not been resolved and vehicles were plying there without any hindrance.
“It appears to us that the matter has now come to close these proceedings. This can be done after obtaining a report from the high-level committee containing its summary suggestions, which can then be referred to the relevant authorities,” the bench said.
He added: “We call on the committee to submit its report and recommendations…”
The court said that the report and recommendations must be in a sealed cover and the committee will not reveal its content to the public until further orders are issued by the court.
The five-member high-level committee is headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nawab Singh.
In September 2024, ensuring that the farmers’ protest was not politicized, the Supreme Court formed a committee to resolve their grievances amicably.
The Supreme Court said the issues facing farmers should not be politicized and should be considered by the committee in a phased manner.
The court passed the order while hearing the Haryana government’s petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s March 2024 order, asking it to remove barricades erected on the Chamboo border, near Ambala, within a week, where the protesting farmers have been camping since February 13, 2024.
The Haryana government erected barricades on the national highway between Ambala and New Delhi in February 2024, after the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of their demands.
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