The Supreme Court on Wednesday said “trust deficit” between agitating farmers and the government led to months of tense stand-off and blockades at the Shambhu border linking Punjab and Haryana.
When a Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant advised the government side to “reach out” to the farmers and open the border to allow free movement, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta replied that they had tractors and bulldozers fitted out as “armoured tanks” ready to roll in.
The court asked Mr. Mehta, who is appearing for the Haryana government, if there were any efforts to negotiate with the farmers. The top law officer responded that “only sleeping persons can be woken up, someone pretending to sleep cannot be woken up”. He noted that the farm laws were already repealed.
This led to the court to suggest the constitution of a “neutral” panel to talk and resolve the face-off.
“There is a trust deficit,” the Bench remarked orally.
The Bench ordered status quo to resume at the border to avoid any sudden spurts of violence while asking Mr. Mehta and the Advocate General of Punjab to get instructions from the two State governments within a week on a proposal to constitute an independent committee of eminent persons who would be able to “reach out to the agitating farmers, Union of India, the State governments as also the other stakeholders in order to find out some viable solution of the issues to the extent they are found to be just, fair, feasible and most importantly in the interest of one and all”.
The Bench said either the two States could suggest names for the panel or leave it to the court to find out some suitable persons.
“The States of Haryana and Punjab are further directed to submit their respective proposals for the removal of barricades in a phased manner for the free flow of traffic and to redress the inconvenience being experienced by the public at large at the site,” the court order directed.
The case was posted for August 2.
The hearing was based on an appeal filed by the Haryana government against a Punjab and Haryana High Court direction to the State to remove the blockades placed at Shambhu border in February 2024 to stop the protesters from entering Delhi through Haryana. Farmers have been protesting against various issues, including a statutory guarantee for the Minimum Support Price for crops.
