Farm Laws & Farmers Protests : Recap Of Eventful Supreme Court Hearings

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced today morning that the Central Government will take steps in the upcoming Parliament session to repeal the three controversial farm laws, against which several farmers organizations have been holding country wide protests over the past one year.While the passage of the three farm laws by the Parliament in September 2020 triggered off widespread protests by farmers - who feared the dismantling of the Agriculture Products Marketing Committees, Minimum Support Price mechanism and corporate exploitation - the issue also reached the Supreme Court through several writ petitions.Here is a brief recap of the dramatic hearings which took place in the Supreme Court in cases related to farm laws and farmers protests.The laws in question are : (1) Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; (2) Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020; and (3)Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.October 2020 : SC issues notice on petitions challenging farm lawOn October 12, 2020, a bench led by the then Chief Justice of India SA Bobde issued notice on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the three farm laws. The petitions challenged the constitutional validity of these laws and also questioned the competence of the Parliament to enact the same on the ground that these were state subjects. The bench was considering three writ petitions filed by Manohar Lal Sharma, office bearers of Chattisgarh Kisan Congress (Rakesh Vaishnav and others) and DMP MP Tiruchi Siva. Later, few other petitions were also filed challenging the farm laws, which were tagged with the previous petitions.December 2020 : Petitions filed in Supreme Court against farmers protestsIn the first week of December, writ petitions were filed in the Supreme Court by few NCR residents seeking the removal of the protesters who were camping at Delhi-NCR borders. The petitioners contended that the assembly of farmers increased the risk of COVID spread. They also relied on the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in the Shaheen Bagh case to argue that farmers had no right to block public roads.December 17, 2020 : Farmers have right to hold peaceful protests, says Supreme CourtOn December 16 & 17, 2020, a bench led by the Chief Justice of India heard a batch of petitions which sought the removal of protesting farmers from Delhi-NCR borders.During the hearing of December 16, the CJI observed that the negotiations held by the Government were not yielding results. In that hearing, the bench gave the first indication that it might form a committee to hold talks with the farm groups.When the petitioners argued that the farmers are blocking roads, the CJI asked if the blockade was being imposed by the Delhi police."The only party before us who has blocked the road is you (Government)", the CJI told the Solicitor General.In the next day's hearing, the CJI observed that the Court was only concerned with the farmers protests and will consider the question of validity of laws only later."We will not decide the validity of the laws today. The first and the only thing we will decide today is regarding the farmers protest and the fundamental right of citizens to move. The question of validity of laws can wait", the CJI said.The CJI also asked the Attorney General for India if the Government can put on hold the implementation of the laws to facilitate talks. The AG said that he will get the response of the Central Government. Senior Advocate Harish Salve urged the Court to pass some urgent orders saying that the farmers protests were blocking the right to free movement of Delhi-NCR residents.However, the Court refrained from issuing any such directions and clarified that it will not interfere with the protests. "It is not as if Delhi is choking...", the CJI told Salve.In the order passed, the Court made in unequivocally clear that the farmers have the right to have peaceful protests.The order stated :"We clarify that this Court will not interfere with the protest in question. Indeed the right to protest is part of a fundamental right and can as a matter of fact, be exercised subject to public order. There can certainly be no impediment in the exercise of such rights as long as it is non-violent and does not result in damage to the life and properties of other citizens and is in accordance with law.We are of the view at this stage that the farmers' protest should be allowed to continue without impediment and without any breach of peace either by the protesters or the police".January 2021 : "You made a law without enough consultations", SC raps CentreOn the next hearing date, January 12,2021, the Supreme Court was upset with the fact that the Centre did not voluntarily take a decision to freeze the implementation of the farm laws to resolve the deadlock with the farmers. The Court lashed out that the Government made the laws without enough...

Farm Laws & Farmers Protests : Recap Of Eventful Supreme Court Hearings

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Farm Laws & Farmers Protests : Recap Of Eventful Supreme Court Hearings

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