The Punjab Government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it had cleared the protesting farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri borders near Haryana. Farmers’ leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was on a fast unto death, also broke his fast.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotishwar Singh informed the Advocate General of Punjab, Gurminder Singh, that the national highway was free for traffic movement. The Punjab government cleared the protestors from the site, and the Haryana government cleared the highway and restored the traffic.
“I said it, highways are not supposed to be (occupied). National highways are lifeline of the country,” said Justice Kant. With regard to Dallewal, Punjab’s Advocate General said he has ended his hunger protest (started in November last year) today. “Mr. Dallewal accepted water today and broke fast,” Singh said.
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The top court also declined to entertain a contempt petition filed against the Punjab authorities for clearing the protesters in alleged violation of a status quo order passed by the apex court. To this, the bench told the lawyer who filed the contempt petition, “We have been asking them to clear the highway; the contempt petition is misconceived.”
The advocate then withdrew the contempt petition from the court. The bench also dropped the contempt proceedings initiated earlier against the Punjab Chief Secretary and the DGP for not taking steps to hospitalise Dallewal, who was on a fast until death then. It further directed the High Powered Committee, constituted by it, to hold negotiations with the protesting farmers and the governments and to file its supplementary report.
The top court had earlier asked Punjab authorities to swiftly tackle the health situation of Dallewal, who was on a fast unto death. It had also asked the states of Punjab and Haryana to continue their meetings with the protesting farmers, to persuade them to clear the highway along the Shambhu border.
In February last year, the Haryana government had set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway. Farmers’ bodies announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
