NE LEGAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI, DEC 16
The Supreme Court on Wednesday indicated that it may form a committee having representatives of the government and farmer unions across the country to resolve the deadlock over farmers protesting at several roads near Delhi borders against the three new agri laws saying “it may become a national issue”.
“Your negotiations have not worked apparently. It is bound to fail. You are saying you are willing to negotiate,” a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
Mehta, who is representing the Centre replied, “Yes, we are willing to talk to farmers”.
When the apex court asked the solicitor-general to give names of the farmer organisations, which are blocking the roads on Delhi borders, he said he can give the names of those with whom Government is holding discussions.
“There are members of Bharatiya Kisan Union and other organizations who are talking to the government,” Mehta said adding that government is talking with the protesting farmer organisations and he can give those names to the court.
He also said, “now, it appears that others have taken over the farmers protest.”
The law officer said farmers and the government are engaging in talks and the government was and is ready for the talks.
“Difficulty is their (farmers) approach that you either repeal these Acts or we will not talk. They had come with placards of yes or no during the talks. Ministers were talking with them and they wanted to discuss the issue with farmers but they (leaders of farmer organisations) turned their chairs and showed their back with placards of yes or no,” Mehta added.
Taking note of submissions, the top court told the advocates appearing for different parties as to what it tentatively proposes to do.
“We will form a committee to resolve the dispute. We will have members of the government, members from farmer organisations in it. This may soon become a national issue. We will have members from farmer organisations from the rest of India also. You propose the list of names of committee members” said the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
Multiple pleas have been filed in the top court seeking a direction to authorities to immediately remove the farmers, saying commuters are facing hardships due to the road blockades and the gatherings might lead to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The apex court issued notices to the Centre and others on a batch of petitions seeking removal of farmers camping at borders of Delhi and an amicable solution of the dispute.
In a hearing conducted via video-conferencing, the bench directed the petitioners to make protesting farmer unions parties to the pleas and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday.
The law officer said that positive and constructive talks were going on and “the government will not do anything which is against the interest of farmers”.
The bench asked petitioners which include a law student Rishabh Sharma, lawyer Reepak Kansal, who have sought removal of protestors, and advocate G S Mani, who has sought amicable settlement of dispute and opening of blockades, to array farmers unions as the party in the matter.
“We will issue notice and it will be returnable tomorrow as courts are closing after Friday,” the bench said.
The bench asked Mehta to submit the names of protesting farmers unions and asked the petitioners to array them as parties.
At the outset, advocate Om Prakash Parihar, appearing for petitioner Rishabh Sharma, said that the roads are blocked at Delhi borders by the protesting farmers which are causing inconvenience to the public.
He referred to October 7 order of the top court, delivered on a petition filed by advocate Amit Sahni against the blockade of a road in the Shaheen Bagh area here by those protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which said public spaces cannot be occupied indefinitely.
The bench said there cannot be any precedent in a matter of law and order situation and cannot pass orders without hearing all the parties.
Petitioner G S Mani told the bench that he has a land in Tamil Nadu and do farming whenever he goes to his native place and referred to the issue of farmers’ suicide.
Mani said that he wants the issue to be resolved amicably through talks and a peaceful solution to this problem.
The bench told Mehta that most of these petitions before it appears to be ill-conceived and “We don’t see any legal issue being raised before us in these petitions except that freedom of movement in the territory of India is blocked, which is caused by the people who are not before us”.
It said that the only person before the court is the person who has blocked the roads and it”s the government authorities.
The bench said, “Who has prevented these farmers from coming to Delhi?” to which Mehta said that it is the police who have done so.
“You are the only party before us” the bench told to Solicitor-General.
Several rounds of formal talks have taken place between the Centre and the representatives of thousands of protesting farmers since November last week, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, but the deadlock has continued with the unions sticking to their main demand for a repeal of the three contentious laws and repeatedly rejecting the government”s offer to make certain changes in the legislation and give written assurances or clarifications on a few issues such as the minimum support price (MSP) and the “mandi” (wholesale market) system.
Naidu expresses hope of reasonable solution to farmers’ issue
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday expressed the hope that a “reasonable solution” will be found to the issues raised by agitating farmers as they and the government are willing to talk to each other.
Speaking at an event in Muchintal, Hyderabad, Naidu referred to media reports on the demands of the agitating farmers and the response of the representatives of the Centre, saying he sees the possibility of a “certain meeting ground”, an official statement said.
He expected both the sides to crystalise the meeting point based on an understanding of each other”s position and expressed the hope that they would have a fruitful and meaningful dialogue, the statement said.
The vice-president pointed out that restriction-free marketing of farm produce has been a long-standing demand, which he himself had articulated several times. “One country and one food zone” has been the demand for long.
Observing that the country’s development is closely tied to farmers’ progress, Naidu compared the farmers’ compassion with that of a mother and said it was the duty of everybody to support them.
He lauded the farmers for rendering a great service to the nation during the pandemic by producing record foodgrain in spite of facing hardships. He also appreciated the efforts of the doctors, sanitation workers, police and media personnel during the pandemic.
Naidu said the Centre and the state governments should work as “Team India” in addressing the needs of the farmers, adding that apart from ensuring remunerative prices, the farmers should be provided with timely and affordable credit. There was also a need to increase the number of cold storage facilities and godowns at all levels. As a matter of fact, every tehsil must have a cold storage facility, he said.
Pointing out that the people of the country have always accorded a very high status to agriculture, the vice president said this is the reason why our festivals and rituals are closely associated with agriculture.
Referring to a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report that cautioned about the food crisis in the coming times, he said if people support farmers, India would not only be food secure, but would also be able to feed the world.
He also complimented the central government for implementing several schemes for the well-being of farmers. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government is progressing steadily towards doubling the farmers” income by 2022 through a number of schemes such as the Soil Health Card Scheme, the Prime Minister’s Krishi Sinchai Yojana, the Prime Minister”s Crop Insurance Scheme and the Electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM), the vice president noted.
In order to achieve progress in agriculture, he called for a change in perspective towards agriculture among the public and urged the youth to become proactive partners in promoting farming.
