courtesy HT JAN 11
Top court to hear pleas on farm laws, protests today
Abraham Thomas
letters@hindustantimes.com
New Delhi : As the impasse continues between the government and farm unions on resolving differences over three contentious agricultural laws, all eyes on Monday will be trained on the Supreme Court, which is to take up separate petitions challenging the farms laws and those filed by lawyers and law students to end a protest by farmers who have encircled Delhi since November 26.
On January 6, during a hearing in the SC, the Centre said that an “understanding” could be in sight with the farmers’ unions over the contentious agricultural laws, even as the Chief Justice of India lamented that there was “no improvement in the situation”. A three-judge bench headed by CJI SA Bobde will take up four petitions filed by four different sets of petitioners who are seeking an end to the protest while some are demanding the provision of facilities farmers who have massed at the protest sites in the chill of winter. The petitions have been filed by advocates Reepak Kansal, GS Mani, law student Rishabh Sharma and a person identified as Janeshwar.
The court will also take up a separate set of seven writ petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the three farm laws enacted by the Centre in September. Farmers say the laws will hurt their livelihoods, reduce their bargaining power and put them at the mercy of powerful agribusinesses.
Among those who have challenged the farm laws in the top court include members of Parliament Tiruchi Siva from Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Manoj Kumar Jha from Bihar’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma, the Bhartiya Kisan Party, Madhya Pradesh farmer DP Dhakad, Chhattisgarh Kisan Congress vice president Rakesh Vaishnav and P Ayyakannu, state president of the National South Indian River Interlinking Agriculturist Sangam.
On four of these petitions, the SC had issued notice on October 12 and directed the Centre to file its response. On January 6, when the court issued notice on a fresh petition by lawyer ML Sharma, attorney general KK Venugopal informed the Court that since talks between farmers and the government were “healthy”, the government had shelved its plans to file a response on the validity of farm laws. The unions have sought a repeal of the laws. The Centre is open to incorporating modifications, but has ruled out their repeal. The stalemate continues after the eighth round of talks. The next round of talks is slated for January 15