The Supreme Court on Monday said that it was “extremely disappointed” with the way negotiations are going on between the Centre and farmers over the newly-enacted agriculture laws.
Hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the three farm laws, the apex court asked the Centre if the contentious legislations can be put on hold for some time.
“We don’t know what negotiations are going on? We don’t know whether you are part of the solution or part of the problem Can the farm laws be put on hold for some time?” the SC bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde asked the Centre.
The CJI also warned that if the Central government does not want to stay the implementation of the three laws, the apex court will put a stay on it. “We will stay implementation of laws… You can carry on the protest. But the question is whether the protest should be held at the same site,” said Bobde.
He, however, said that they were not talking about the repeal of the laws at the moment, saying that “this is a very delicate situation”.
The SC also reiterated the need for a committee on farm laws, saying it will stop their implementation if the panel advises to do so.
Not a single plea in favour of farm laws’
The CJI said that there is not a single petition before the top court which says that the farm laws are beneficial to farmers.
“What is going on? States are rebelling against your laws. Some people have committed suicide, old people and women are a part of the agitation. What is happening? Each one of us will be responsible if something goes wrong. We don’t want anybody’s blood on our hands,” said the CJI.
“We don’t know whether people are observing social distancing but we are concerned about them (farmers) getting food and water,” the apex court said.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against the new farm laws at various border points of Delhi since November 26.
The Centre and farm union leaders have, so far, held eight rounds of talks to end the impasse over the laws but failed to achieve any major breakthrough. The two sides are scheduled to hold another round of meeting on January 15.
During the last hearing, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that “healthy discussions” were going with the farmer unions over the issues related to the farm laws.
Source: Times Now
