Supreme Court expresses concern over farmers’ stir, to hear all pleas against new farm laws on Monday

New Delhi, January 6: The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concern over ongoing farmers’ protest and said it will hear all petitions challenging the new farm laws and the ongoing agitation on January 11.

The bench of CJI SA Bobde, AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramaniam observed that “there is absolutely no improvement in the situation” regarding farmers’ protest and said it will take up the petitions challenging farm laws on Monday (January 11).

The observation was made by the SC as it took up a petition filed by advocate ML Sharma challenging the constitutional validity of the three farm laws.

In his petition, ML Sharma has alleged that the 1954 Amendment Act of the Constitution, which had included Agriculture in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, was passed in an improper manner. Sharma has argued that the inclusion of agriculture in the Concurrent list is unconstitutional.

Initially, the bench indicated that all pending matters related to the legal challenge to farm laws, as well as the ongoing farmer agitation, will be taken up in court on Friday (January 8). However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Attorney General KK Venugopal objected to this, India Today reported.

AG KK Venugopal informed the court that “there is good chance that parties may come to some conclusion in the near future,” as another round of talks is scheduled for Friday.

The SC bench then observed that it will like to take up the petitions challenging farm laws on Monday.

SG Tushar Mehta argued that since “healthy talks are going on between farmers and Centre, it would not be advisable to take up the matters immediately.”

This argument was backed by the AG, who argued that “filing of response in court by the Centre could foreclose avenues of negotiations underway between farmers and Centre.” The SC bench finally scheduled a hearing of all pending matters related to the farm laws on Monday.

At least six petitions challenging the constitutional and legal validity of three farm laws are pending before the SC. In addition, two PILs have been filed seeking removal of the protesting farmers from the Delhi borders.

Multiple petitions have also been filed related to the “violation of human rights” of protesting farmers.

The deadlock, meanwhile, continues as the seventh round of talks with the Centre remained inconclusive, with the farmer groups sticking to their demand for the repeal of the three new laws, and the government listing out various benefits of the new Acts. The next meeting between the Centre and farmers is scheduled to take place on January 8

Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and some other parts of the country have been camping at several Delhi border points since November 28, demanding the repeal of the farm laws, a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops and other two issues.

Farmers have asserted that their stir against the farm laws will intensify in the coming days, even as they deferred Wednesday’s proposed tractor march over a bad weather forecast.

On Tuesday, the protesting farmers said they were deferring their proposed tractor march from January 6 to January 7 due to a bad weather forecast.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/supreme-court-pleas-against-farm-laws-farmers-stir-hearing-1756336-2021-01-06