New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that protesting farmers at the Shambhu border near Ambala are also citizens of the country and wondered how could a state government block a highway when its duty is to regulate traffic, while asking the Haryana government to clear the barricading at the Shambhu border.
Since February 13, the farmers’ have been camping at the border. A counsel, representing the Haryana government, contended before a bench led by Justice Surya Kant that the state government is preparing to challenge the Punjab and Haryana High Court order passed on July 10, directing it to open the highway within seven days, in the apex court.
"How can a state block a highway? It has a duty to regulate traffic. We are saying open it, but regulate," said the bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, pointing at difficulties while travelling through the road.
Justice Kant told the state's counsel, "Why do you want to challenge the High Court's order? Farmers are also citizens of this country”. The bench told the state’s counsel to give food and good medical care to them. “They will come, raise slogans and go back. I think you don't commute by road”, said the bench, to which the counsel replied that he travels by road.
The apex court asked the state government to file an affidavit on the subsequent developments in the pending matter. The bench made these observations while hearing a plea of the Haryana government challenging a March 7 Punjab and Haryana High Court decision to set up a committee headed by a former High Court judge to probe farmer Shubhkaran Singh's death during a clash between the protesting farmers and Haryana security personnel in February.
In February, the Haryana government had set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi National highway. The state government took this action after the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The apex court in April had declined to stay the order passed by the High Court.
The High Court on July 10, directed the Haryana government to clear within a week the barricading at the Shambhu border. It said that if any law-and-order issue were to arise then the state can take preventive action according to law.
