Security personnel stand guard during the farmers' protest at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu Border, in Patiala district
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea urging the Centre to address the reasonable demands of farmers and remove barricades from their peaceful gatherings and marches in the national capital. Justices Surya Kant and K V Vishwanathan advised the petitioner against filing petitions based solely on newspaper reports for the sake of publicity.
The bench cautioned the council, stating that similar issues were under consideration by the High Court, which had already issued directives. The Court urged the counsel to conduct thorough research, highlighting the complexity of the matters involved. Consequently, the council chose to withdraw the plea, which also sought a directive to unblock social media accounts and uphold the right to free speech for those sharing information about the farmer’s protest.
The petition was filed by Agnostos Theos, managing director of the Sikh Chamber of Commerce. The petitioner argued that preventing farmers from entering the national capital without reasonable cause infringed upon their right to travel freely throughout the country, as guaranteed by Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution.
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The plea named the Union government, as well as the governments of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Delhi, along with the National Human Rights Commission, as respondents. It alleged that state governments had resorted to aggressive and violent tactics, such as using tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters, resulting in serious injuries.
The petition asserted that the actions of the state governments had defamed the intentions and objectives of the protesting farmers, likening their treatment to that of terrorists by their own government. It claimed violations of the farmers’ rights enshrined in Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
The plea highlighted the farmers’ demands for the implementation of the Swaminathan Committee’s recommendations, as well as their call for the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest on February 13. It accused the Union and state governments of issuing threats and fortifying borders to prevent farmers from entering Delhi.
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Furthermore, the petition alleged that farmers arriving in private vehicles from neighboring states were forcefully detained, while those from other states were intercepted and diverted to prevent them from joining the protest.
