New Delhi: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ordered the maintenance of the status quo at the Shambhu border near Ambala, where farmers have been camped since February 13. A bench consisting of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan announced their intention to form an independent committee of eminent individuals. This committee will engage with farmers and other stakeholders to identify fair and just solutions that address everyone’s interests.
The bench asked the Punjab and Haryana governments to suggest some names of members in the committee or else it can find out some suitable persons for the committee.
It asked Supreme both the States to suggest the names within a week.
“Let appropriate instructions be taken within a week. Till then let parties maintain status quo at the site to prevent flaring up of the situation at the Shambhu border,” the bench stated in its order.
The top court also asked Punjab and Haryana to take steps for the removal of barricades in a phased manner at Shambhu border so that no inconvenience is caused to the public at large.
The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal against the July 10 Punjab and Haryana High Court order by which it had directed it to open the highway and clear the barricading within seven days.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for Haryana government told opposed the opening of the border saying it will create the law and order problem.
Right now there are armoured tanks at the Shambhu border, said Solicitor General.
“As a welfare State we cannot afford any untoward incident… they are prohibited on a national highway. JCB, tanks, trollies are converted into virtual war tanks. Please see the photos. I am saying this with a sense of responsibility,” he said.
The bench then told Solicitor General that there are some trust deficit and as a State you need to take some initiative to reach out the farmers.
Mehta replied that State was ready to talk.
To this, Justice Kant said, “You are sending your ministers… Why do not you think of a neutral umpire. Some confidence needs to be there. This is a case of trust deficit… or we will think of suggesting some persons having neutral…”
The bench asked then said it was proposing to constitute some independent committee.
The bench also observed that it’s more than a year now and national highway can’t blocked.
In February, 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.