Supreme Court Puts Three Farm Laws On Hold

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, January 12, suspended the implementation of the three contentious farm laws until further notice and set up a committee including experts to initiate talks between the centre and farmer unions in order to resolve the deadlock.

Agricultural economist Ashok Gulati, Harsimrat Mann, Pramod Joshi etc are some of the names mentioned by the CJI as the Committee members, Livelaw reported.

When the court was informed that the farmer unions were not willing to appear before the committee, the SC bench said those "genuinely" interested in finding a solution would do so.

"This is not politics. There is a difference between politics and judiciary and you will have to cooperate," the bench, headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramania said.'

"These are matters of life and death. We are concerned with laws. We are concerned with the lives and property of people affected by the agitation. We are trying to solve the problem in the best way. One of the powers we have is to suspend the legislation," the Chief Justice said.

During the hearing on January 11, the SC had hinted at its intention of putting the implementation of farm laws on hold. The court observed that the steps taken by the centre to break the deadlock have proven to be ineffective.

"Each one of us we will responsible if anything goes wrong. We don't want any injuries or blood on our hands," the Chief Justice had said.

The government had told the court that the laws "were not hurriedly made", that they were the product of two decades of deliberations.

The top court also sought response from the government on whether a banned organisation had infiltrated the farmers' agitation.

The order came after P S Narasimha, who represented a petitioner supporting the farm laws, claimed members of 'Sikhs for Justice' were aiding the protests. Claiming Khalistanis were a part of the protests, the Attorney General said that he would file an affidavit with Intelligence Bureau records by Wednesday, January 13.

Further, the apex court issued a notice on the Delhi Police petition seeking to stop the tractor rally planned by protesting farmers on Republic Day. The Centre has urged the SC to stop protesting farmers from holding the tractor rally on January 26, saying that any disruption in the celebrations of the function "would be a huge embarrassment for the nation".

The government and farmer unions have engaged in eight rounds of talks so far, however, they have failed to find any solution. Their next meeting is scheduled on January 15.

Also Read: 'Don't Want Anyone's Blood On Our Hands', Supreme Court Pulls Up Govt On Farm Laws