Agriculture laws have been banned, what are you opposing: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Monday asked a farmers’ organization what it was opposing when three agricultural laws were already stalled and not implemented. A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar observed that when one of the parties has already moved the court challenging the validity of the laws, where is the question of going on the protest.
When Attorney General KK Venugopal referred to the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people were killed on Sunday, the bench said that no one takes responsibility for such incidents. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that once the matter is before the Supreme Constitutional Court, no one can be on the streets on the same issue.
The top court was hearing a petition filed by a farmers’ body opposing three new agricultural laws and seeking a direction to the authorities to allow them to hold ‘satyagraha’ at Jantar Mantar. The ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’, the farmers’ and farmers’ body, and its president also sought directions to the concerned authorities to provide space to at least 200 farmers or body’s protesters at Jantar Mantar to organize peaceful and non-violent ‘satyagraha’ Is.
The bench, which posted the matter for hearing on October 21, transferred to itself the petition, which was filed by the farmers’ body, before the Rajasthan High Court challenging the validity of the three agricultural laws.
Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh are protesting against three laws – the Farmer Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020; and Agreement on Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Price Assurance and Agricultural Services Act, 2020 from November last year. While farmers have expressed apprehension over laws that scrapped the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations, the government is touting the laws as major agricultural reforms. More than 10 rounds of talks have failed to break the deadlock between the two sides. Notably, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of three laws in Januaru.
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