SC wants Dallewal to be given proper medical aid at PGIMER-Chandigarh before Feb 14 talks

As fasting farmers' leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal takes medical aid without breaking his fast and protesting farmers agree to hold talks with the Centre, the Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred the hearing on contempt of court proceedings against the Punjab Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to February.

Welcoming the “positive developments” that have taken place in the last few days, a three-judge Bench led by Justice Surya Kant noted that the Centre had sent a high-level delegation which met Dallewal and other farmer leaders on January 18 and both sides have agreed to have a dialogue in Chandigarh on February 14, 2025.

In light of these developments, the Bench chose to keep in abeyance the contempt proceedings and dispensed with the presence of the Punjab Government officials.

As senior counsel Kapil Sibal and Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh said Dallewal has accepted medical aid and his condition has improved after being shifted to a hospital 50 meters from the protest side, the Bench said he should be given proper medical aid at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh before the February 14 talks.

“We would like to impress upon Mr. Dallewal that he can go to Chandigarh in advance a couple of days before the meeting and have a proper medical checkup at PGI, Chandigarh and take necessary medical aid for his effective participation. We are also informed that some other farmers' leaders have also broken their fast and have agreed to resume the talks,” the Bench said.

Noting that Dallewal was highly popular among farmers, the Bench said had good original ideas on how the issue could be taken up.

The Bench – which also included Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan -- posted the matter for hearing at the end of February, saying all the stakeholders will be able to take appropriate decisions on the further line of action in the national interest and in the interest of the farmer community.

Singh told the Bench that talks had been scheduled at Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Chandigarh on February 14 at 5 pm and farmers were ready and willing to participate. He said 111 farmers have broken their fast and Dallewal has taken medical aid without breaking his fast. “Fortunately, within days, his ketone levels have gone from 6 to 1. He is improving very fast,” he added.

Dallewal has been on fast-unto-death since November 26, 2024 to press for farmers’ demands, including implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of farmers who died during the 2020-21 agitation.

As the Punjab Government claimed that health parameters of Dallewal were stable and improving, the Supreme Court had on January 15 ordered the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to set up an expert panel to examine six medical reports on his health submitted by the state.

While hearing the Haryana Government’s petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s July 10, 2024 order to remove within a week the barricades at the Shambhu border near Ambala where farmers have been camping since February, 2024, the top court had on December 20 made it clear that it wanted Dallewal to be shifted to a make-shift hospital near the protest site. However, it left it to the Punjab Government authorities to take a call on the issue.