Supreme Court refuses contempt plea against Punjab govt over forceful eviction of protesting farmers

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to consider a plea for contempt action against the Punjab government for forcefully evicting farmers from Shambhu and Khanauri borders on the night of March 19-20.

The Punjab government told the court that farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was on an indefinite hunger strike in support of various demands, accepted water and broke his fast this morning.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh lauded the efforts of Dallewal, saying he is a genuine farmer leader without any political agenda.

Punjab's Advocate General Gurminder Singh told the court that they have dispersed the protesting farmers at Khanauri and Shambhu borders, and opened all blocked roads and highways.

The court said it knows that some people did not want settlement of grievances of farmers.

“We are not sitting in an ivory tower. We know everything,” the bench said.

The court also asked the Punjab and Haryana government to file a status report about the prevailing situation on the ground.

The bench asked the high-powered committee headed by a former high court judge to look into the grievances of farmers, to also file a supplementary status report.

In a big relief to Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann government, the court refused to entertain the contempt petition filed against the state government for forcibly evicting farmers on the night of March 19-20 protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders.

“We have been telling them (Punjab and Haryana) to open the highways.. NH cannot be permanently blocked. We are not entertaining the contempt petition.....Highways are not to be blocked”, the bench told the lawyer for Sehajpreet Singh who had filed the contempt petition.

The bench said a large number of people were suffering due to blockade, and transportation of goods and other services especially to hill states also was affected.

The bench was informed both Haryana and Punjab governments took steps to clear the border by removing farmers.

The contempt plea was filed in the Supreme Court against the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and the Director General of Police of the State of Punjab, alleging their wilful disobedience and defiance of last year's order directing the status quo at the Shambhu border to prevent any "untoward incident".

Farmers, under the banners of SKM and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.