Supreme Court on farm laws

  • The Supreme Court suspended the implementation of the laws until further notice. 
  • It also decided to set up a committee comprising experts to hear the parties and understand the ground situation.
  • The court’s sharp remarks came during a hearing on petitions challenging the farm laws and the farmer agitation at the Delhi borders.
  • A bench comprising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Justices V Ramasubramanian and AS Bopanna gave the ruling.
THE COMMITTEE
  • The committee comprises 4 members. 
  • The committee has been appointed for the purpose of listening to the grievances of farmers relating to the farm laws and views of the government to make recommendations. 
  • The four members are:
  1. Bhupinder Singh Mann: He is currently the president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU).
  2. Anil Ghanwat: He is currently the president of the Shetkari Sanghatana, a Maharashtra-based union that was founded by the legendary farm leader Sharad Joshi.
  3. Dr Pramod Kumar Joshi: He is a known name in the field of agriculture research.
  4. Ashok Gulati: He is a professor for Agriculture at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
REACTION AND THE REASONS BEHIND IT
  • The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee has said the members of the committee named by the apex court “are people who are known for their support to the three Acts and have actively advocated for the same”.
  • It further declared that farmers will not participate in any court-ordered committee process.
  • The reaction can be understood from the fact that all four members have publicly been in favour of the farm laws and none of them has supported the demands for repealing them. 
  • Three of the four believe the protesting farmers are misguided.

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