A high-powered committee set up by the Supreme Court to talk to farmer bodies, which are protesting on the Shambhu border, Friday said that it will try and persuade them to clear the highways and ensure smooth traffic even as the court expressed concern at the condition of a farmer leader who is on hunger strike.
Justice Surya Kant presiding over a two-judge bench asked the Central and the Punjab governments to make sure the protesting farmers leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal gets proper medical aid.
The bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, said that he be provided medical aid. “He must be provided medical aid immediately, without forcing him to break his fast…,” said Justice Surya Kant. He asked the state governments of Haryana and Punjab to have a direct dialogue and communication. “His life is more precious than agitations…”.
The bench opines that Punjab and Central government representatives meet the protestors and Dallewal to impress upon them, and that immediate priority should be Dallewal’s medical aid.
It’s the “bounden duty of the Punjab government and the Union to take all peaceful measures to provide adequate, immediate medical aid to Dallewal, without forcing him to break his fast, unless it is imperative to save his life,” the bench said in its order.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh concurred with the committee’s suggestion to try and persuade the protestors to change their venue.
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