New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said in a democratic setup, engage in peaceful protests and deter from causing inconvenience to people, while asking Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, to persuade the protesting farmers to refrain from obstructing highways and causing inconvenience to people. Dallewal is on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point to press for the acceptance of farmers' demands.
The matter came up before a bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan. The bench told a counsel, representing Dallewal, that in a democratic setup, “you can engage in peaceful protests but do not cause inconvenience to people”.
The bench stressed, “You all know that the Khanauri border is a lifeline for Punjab”, and made it clear that it is not making any comment on the protest. “We are not commenting on whether the protest is right or wrong," said the bench.
The bench said it has noted the issue raised by the farmers and it is being considered in a pending matter. "We have seen that he has been released and he even persuaded a fellow protestor to end his fast-unto-death protest on Saturday," said the bench, while disposing of a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Dallewal, who was removed from the Khanauri protest site on the Punjab-Haryana border on November 26.
Hours before beginning his fast-unto-death on November 26, Dallewal was allegedly forcibly removed from the Khanauri border and taken to a hospital in Ludhiana. He was discharged on Friday evening. Last month, a plea was moved in the top court against his alleged illegal detention by the Punjab Police. Dallewal, a day after he was released, joined the fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point.
Since February this year, farmers have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after they were stopped by security forces.
Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
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