SC Forms Neutral Panel For Talks With Farmers At Shambhu Border

The Supreme Court has established a “neutral high-powered committee” to engage with farmers protesting at the Shambhu border. This committee will be chaired by Justice (Retd.) Nawab Singh, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The committee includes retired IPS officer and former Haryana Director General BS Sandhu, agricultural expert Dr. Devinder Sharma, Ranjit Singh Ghumman, a Professor of Eminence at GNDU Amritsar, and Sukhpal Singh, an Agricultural Economist at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The bench, consisting of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, also requested the committee to invite Baldev Raj Kamboj, Vice-Chancellor of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, as a special invitee whenever his expert opinion is needed.

This decision came after Haryana appealed a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that directed the state to “open at least the barricades at Shambhu border within a week to relieve the general public of inconvenience.” The Supreme Court had previously suggested resolving the dispute amicably and asked the states to propose names for the committee.

After reviewing the names provided by Punjab and Haryana, the Supreme Court stated, “All the names suggested by the States of Punjab and Haryana are eminent, distinct in their respective fields and are above board.

They are persons of high integrity with a dedicated commitment to the field of their specialisation, with special expertise in the field of agriculture and firsthand knowledge of the hardships being experienced by the rural people including farmers… We acknowledge their contribution towards agricultural growth and are of the view that their legitimate aspirations, if not enforceable rights, also deserve empathy and due consideration by the Committee, while examining the larger issues which are confronting the farming community in the States of Punjab and Haryana.”

The Court also instructed the committee to “reach out to the agitating farmers at the Shambhu border to impress upon them to immediately remove their tractors/trolleys, tents and other accessories etc. from and near the National Highway so as to enable the civil and police administration of both the States to open the National Highway for the purposes illustrated in para-2 of our Order dated 12th August, 2024.”