Supreme Court Intervenes in Farmers' Protest with New Mediation Committee

The Supreme Court has formed a committee led by Justice Nawab Singh to address the grievances of farmers protesting at the Shambhu border. The court emphasized that the issues should be resolved without politicization and allowed farmers to move their protests to alternative sites. The Haryana government's plea against removing barricades was also considered.

The Supreme Court on Monday constituted a committee headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Nawab Singh to amicably resolve the grievances of protesting farmers at the Shambhu border.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the committee to convene its first meeting within a week.

The top court emphasized that the farmers' issues should not be politicized and must be considered by the committee in a phased manner. Additionally, it allowed farmers to shift their peaceful agitations to alternative sites.

The court was hearing the Haryana government's plea challenging the high court's order to remove within a week the barricades erected at the Shambhu border near Ambala where protesting farmers have been camping since February 13. The Haryana government had put up the barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway in response to farmers' planned march to Delhi in support of demands including legal guarantees of minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.

(With inputs from agencies.)