A high-powered committee, appointed by the Supreme Court and led by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nawab Singh, is set to hold further talks with the protesting farmers on January 3. The committee has extended an invitation for a virtual meeting with the farmers.
In September, the Court established this independent and neutral panel to engage with the farmers in an effort to resolve the ongoing deadlock and address their concerns. The panel also includes former Haryana DGP B S Sandhu, agriculture expert Devinder Sharma, Professor Ranjit Singh Ghumman from GNDU (Amritsar), and Dr. Sukhpal Singh, an agricultural economist from Punjab Agricultural University (Ludhiana).
Representatives of the farmers have confirmed receipt of the invitation for the virtual meeting on January 3. On Saturday, the Supreme Court expressed its dissatisfaction with the Punjab government’s response, calling its stance of “helplessness” in the hospitalization of farmer Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on a hunger strike at the Shambhu border, inadequate.
When the committee was formed, the Court tasked it with reaching out to the agitating farmers at the Shambhu border, urging them to remove their tractors, trolleys, tents, and other materials obstructing the national highway. This was to allow both state governments’ civil and police administrations to reopen the highway.
The Court expressed hope that, with the formation of the neutral committee—an important demand of the farmers that both states had agreed to—the farmers would respond positively by vacating the Shambhu border or any other roads obstructing traffic. The Court emphasized that this action would provide significant relief to the public, who are enduring hardships due to the ongoing blockade, and allow the committee and both states to discuss the farmers’ demands in a fair and objective manner.
The Court also cautioned the agitating farmers to avoid alignment with political parties or political issues and to refrain from insisting on demands that cannot be immediately fulfilled.
