To not politicise the farmers' protest issue, and to resolve the grievances of protesting farmers at the Shambhu border, the Supreme Court of India on Monday, formed a high-powered committee which is being headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Nawab Singh.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan has asked the committee to hold its first meeting within a week while also asking the panel to reach out to the agitating farmers to immediately remove their tractors, trolleys etc. from the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana to provide relief to commuters.
The bench added that both, the Punjab and Haryana governments will be free to provide suggestions to the committee on the matter.
Retired IPS officer P S Sandhu, Devender Sharma, professor Ranjit Singh Ghuman, and Dr Sukhpal Singh, an Agricultural Economist from the Punjab Agriculture University are also part of the committee.
The apex court has also cautioned the protesting farmers to keep themselves at a safe distance from political parties and not to insist on demands which are not feasible. The top court said the farmers' issues should not be politicised and be considered by the committee in a phased manner.
The apex court said farmers will be at liberty to shift their peaceful agitations to alternative sites.
The court was hearing the Haryana government's plea challenging the high court's order asking it to remove within a week the barricades erected at the Shambhu border near Ambala where protesting farmers have been camping since February 13.
Barricades were set up by the Haryana government on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway in February after the 'Samyukta Kisan Morcha' (Non-Political) and 'Kisan Mazdoor Morcha' announced that farmers would march to Delhi, supporting their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
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