The Supreme Court expressed disappointment and slammed the Centre for its way of dealing with the situation over the farmers' protests against the three farm laws.
The bench comprising Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian on Monday expressed great disappointment with the way the central government has been handling the issue of ongoing farmers protests over the three farm laws. The Supreme Court also showed concern over the condition of farmers who have been protesting at the Delhi borders for over a month now.
The court proposed to form a committee which will include experts from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and also suggested the name of former CJI RM Lodha to head the panel in order to come to a solution to the problem. The court also assured farmers that their concerns and issues will be heard and will stop the implementation of the three farm laws if the panel suggests against it. CJI Bobde requested senior citizens among the protesting farmers to go home.
When Attorney General KK Venugopal pressed upon the demand to not put a stay on the laws and asked for more time to resolve the issue, the court said, "We have given you enough long rope Mr Attorney General, please don't lecture us on patience." The court added, "We are sorry to say that Centre has not been able to solve the problem and the farmers' agitation." " We don't know whether you are part of the solution or part of the problem," it further added.
The court criticized the central government for not being able to resolve the issue and said that if the government will not put the farm laws on hold, then they will. The court also mentioned that there has not been a single petition which stated that the farm laws are beneficial to the farmers. The court further added that as these are the laws of the Centre, it should take responsibility.
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