Supreme Court declines contempt of court plea against the Punjab Govt for removing protesting farmers

On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to consider a request for contempt of court actions against the Punjab Government for displacing protesting farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri borders.

On March 19 the Punjab Police detained multiple farmer leaders, such as Sarwan Singh Pandher and Dallewal, in Mohali as they were coming back from a meeting with a Central delegation, and also removed farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri protest locations.

A panel of Justices Surya Kant and N K Singh stated that the court has been urging the state government to reopen the highway. Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh, in the meantime, informed the court that the state had removed the protesters and reopened the National Highway that had been obstructed for several months for vehicle movement.

Subsequently, the highest court also dismissed the contempt of court actions it had previously initiated against the Punjab chief secretary and the director general of police for failing to take measures to hospitalize Dallewal. This matter arose before the Bench while it was reviewing an appeal from the Haryana government contesting the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s directive for the state government to remove the blockade at the Haryana-Punjab border due to the farmers’ protest.