Keypoints:
- Supreme Court-appoints committee to examine farm laws.
- Farmers have been demanding to repeal these laws while the government has held its ground arguing in favour of the legislation.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of all three farm laws and passed orders on batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the laws. The stay means the Centre cannot, for the time being, proceed with any executive action to enforce the three laws.
The stay, the court said, “may assuage the hurt feelings of the farmers” and make them confident enough to scythe their way to the negotiating table in good faith”.
“We cannot keep the farm laws abeyance for nothing. There must be some progress to resolve the issue over farm laws which we want to do through committee,” said Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde.
We are trying to solve the problem in the best way. One of the powers we have is to suspend the legislation,” Chief Justice SA Bobde said while hearing a batch of petitions against the constitutional validity of three farm laws, along with the plea to remove protesting farmers.
“All can give response to the committee, both for and against. And we will accept the committee and deal with the farm laws,” CJI said.
“This committee will be for us. All of you people who are expected to solve the issue will go before this committee. It will not pass an order or punish you, it will only submit a report to us… The committee is part of the judicial process in this case. We are planning to suspend the laws but not indefinitely,” he added.
The Supreme Court also sought cooperation from the farmers’ unions. “Those who genuinely want resolution will go to the panel,” it said. The top court further told the farmers’ unions that there’s difference between politics and judiciary and you will have to cooperate.
The SC-appointed panel will comprise of HS Mann, Pramod Kumar Joshi, Ashok Gulati and Anil Dhanwant.
If the Centre does not want to stay the implementation of the farm laws, the Supreme Court on Monday had said it will put a stay on it.
