"Don't File For Publicity": Supreme Court On Petition On Farmers Protest

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a petitioner to withdraw his plea seeking direction to the government of India to consider the reasonable demands of the farmers who are staging continuous peaceful protests and demonstrations.

A bench headed by Justice Surya Kant observed that these are complex issues and told the lawyer not to file such petitions for publicity based on newspaper reports.

"Do not file such petitions for publicity only, based on newspaper reports. The High Court is also seized and has given directions. Be careful. We are not taking a stand on anything. Do your own research also, these are complex issues," said the bench to the petitioner's lawyer.

It allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea with the liberty to seek remedies as per law.

Agnostos Theos, Managing Director of The Sikh Chamber of Commerce approached the Supreme Court seeking direction over farmers' protests.

The plea sought direction to the State and Central government to stop all violence against the protestors and remove all barricading and fortification etc. at once.

The farmers are peacefully protesting their demand for the implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan committee as per their call for the protest for 'Dilli Chalo' on February 13, 2024, it said.

"The Respondent, Union and State governments, in anticipation of the protest by the farmer, issued threats against the people in participating in the protest, fortified the borders of the state around the city of Delhi, with iron spikes, concrete walls, etc. ensuring that farmers are not able to enter the territory of the national capital," the petition added.

The plea sought direction from the government to instruct relevant authorities to not cause hindrance in farmers' peaceful march and gathering in the national capital.

Social media accounts should be unblocked and the right to free speech should not be curbed, the plea stated, adding that FIRs should be registered against this act of the government.

"Instruct relevant authorities to take immediate action against those who are defaming farmers and Sikhs, and hurling abuses, using derogatory terms and issuing threats," the petition urged.

Thousands of farmers remain camped at Khanauri and Shambhu borders with their tractor-trolleys and trucks agitating for their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt waiver.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)