SC Puts on Hold 3 Farm Laws, Forms Committee for Talks

Ebangla Bureau

Supreme Court has  stayed   three  farm laws being opposed by farmers and demanding their repeal by forming a 4 -member committee comprising  agriculture experts .The committee members will ascertain farmers’ views and submit the report to the apex court.  The laws approved by the two Houses of Parliament and opposed by the opposition  including the  Congress, TMC, the Left, RJD ,DMK,  will remain stayed until  cleared by the SC. The  committee of experts will facilitate talks between the Centre and farmers’ unions to resolve the impasse. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India S. A. Bobde and comprising Justices A. S. Bopanna and V. Balasubramanian, said those genuinely interested in finding a solution would appear before the committee. The Bench  was hearing a batch of petitions regarding the Constitutional validity of the  farm laws. The Bench said ‘’we are concerned about the validity of the laws and also about protecting the life and property of citizens affected by protesters. The Chief Justice said that the committee will not pass an order or punish and submit a report to the Supreme Court. He said the committee is the judicial process in this case. In eight rounds of talks with farmers’ unions over the past month, the government has  firmly ruled out withdrawing the laws saying it is ready for amendment. ‘’We are staying three farm laws until further orders,” Chief Justice SA Bobde said.The government had told the court that the laws “were not hurriedly made”, that they were the result of two decades of deliberations. The Supreme Court said it was trying to solve the problem in the best way and had the power to suspend the laws. “These are matters of life and death. We are concerned with laws. We are concerned with lives and property of people affected by the agitation. We are trying to solve the problem in the best way. One of the powers we have is to suspend the legislation,” the Chief Justice said.”We want to solve the problem and that’s why we are making the committee. Give the names to us, we will decide,” he added. The committee will comprise Ashok Gulati, Pramod Joshi, Harshimrat Maan and Anil Ghanwat. Meanwhile, BKU leader, Rakesh Tikait, Told TIMES NOW  ‘We are not satisfied yet, will not be calling off the protest. Govt will have to roll back the laws. During the hearing CJI said   ‘There is an application before us which says that there is a banned organisation  helping this protest. Can the Attorney General accept or deny it? says CJI. Attorney General KK Venugopal says we have said that Khalistanis have infiltrated into the protests. The SC has  issued notice to farmers’ unions on a Delhi Police plea to stop a tractor rally during the January 26 Republic Day parade. The judges rebuffed the lawyer for the  protesting farmers, ML Sharma, as he said farmers would not participate in the committee as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had refused to talk to them. “We cannot ask the PM anything, he is not a party before us,” said the Chief Justice. edited by PK Chakravarty