The Supreme Court on Saturday gave the Punjab government till December 31 to convince farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike for over a month, to move to a hospital, PTI reported.
The vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and Sudhanshu Dhulia rebuked the Punjab government for not adhering to its earlier directives mandating medical care for Dallewal.
The court also reprimanded protesting farmers who objected to attempts by the Punjab government to hospitalise Dallewal, reported Live Law.
“What kind of farmers’ leaders are there who want Dallewal to die?” the court asked. “Dallewal appears to be [under] peer pressure.”
Dallewal, chief of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), has been on an indefinite hunger strike at Khanauri, located on the Punjab-Haryana border, since November 26.
The 70-year-old cancer patient, who has held hunger strikes in the past, had announced his protest on the fourth anniversary of the farmers’ movement against the now-scrapped farm laws.
Dallewal’s hunger strike is part of a wider campaign by Punjab’s farm groups to press the Union government to accept their demand for legally guaranteed minimum support prices. The minimum support price is the cost at which the government procures crops from farmers.
Along with the legal guarantee, they have also been demanding the implementation of the MS Swaminathan Commission’s wider recommendations for farming in India, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, a farm debt waiver and the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
The farmers have alleged that the Centre has not taken steps to address their demands, claiming that no talks have been held since February 18.
The top court on Saturday made known its dissatisfaction with a compliance report filed by the Punjab chief secretary and director general of police regarding Dallewal’s hospitalisation.
The affidavit stated that Dallewal could not be safely removed from the protest site due to resistance from his colleagues, who had encircled Dallewal’s living quarters with tractor-trolleys. The affidavit warned that any attempt to evacuate him could result in “collateral damage”, including potential loss of life and damage to property.
The Punjab government also said that Dallewal had refused any medical treatment to avoid undermining his cause.
However, Justice Kant remarked orally that the affidavit appeared to indicate that the state was supporting Dallewal’s decision to continue his hunger strike.
“This is actually abetment to suicide...You first create a problem and then take a plea, now that there is a problem we cannot do anything,” Justice Dhulia added.
The court is scheduled to hear the matter next on December 31 and has ordered the Centre to provide logistical support to the state of Punjab if required.
The court also remarked that the farm leaders preventing Dallewal from being transferred to a hospital did not appear to be his “well-wishers”.
“Are they interested in his life or something else?” the court asked. “We don’t want to say much and only hope that the Punjab government will comply with our directions.”
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