SC urges medical help for fasting farmer leader Jagjit Dallewal

Amid deteriorating health parameters of Punjab farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal — who has been on fast-unto-death for the last 17 days — the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Punjab Government and the Centre to take immediate steps to ensure that his life was not in danger.

Dallewal has been on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana since November 26 to press for the acceptance of farmers’ demands.

“He (Dallewal) must be provided medical aid immediately without forcing him to break his fast...Please have a direct dialogue and communication. His life is more precious than agitations. He is providing leadership...other farmers should support you…” a Bench, led by Justice Surya Kant, told Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

“It’s the bounden duty of the Punjab and Union Governments to take all peaceful measures to provide adequate, immediate medical aid to Dallewal without forcing him to break his fast, unless it is imperative to save his life,” Justice Kant said.

Directing the representatives of the Punjab Government and the Centre to immediately meet Dallewal and other farmer leaders to convince them about the need to provide him with immediate medical aid, the Bench posted the matter for further hearing on December 17.

The direction came after a lawyer drew the court's attention to the deteriorating health condition of Dallewal and urged it to issue some direction to ensure that he was safe.

The top court asked the agitating farmers to adopt Gandhian way of protest and temporarily suspend their protest or shift from highways. It asked the high-powered panel appointed by it to meet agitating farmers to persuade them to temporarily suspend their protest or shift from highways.

The Bench expressed satisfaction over the fact that the Punjab Government authorities had access to Dallewal despite the farmer leader being surrounded by more than 2,000 farmers.

While agreeing with the suggestion given by the Bench, the Punjab Advocate General said there should not be any direction to shift the farmer leader to any specific hospital as it might involve use of force that could potentially create problems. He said the state government would do the needful to deal with the situation.

Singh, however, urged the top court to remove the blockade, saying, “Finances of the state are suffering since main arterial highway is blocked.”

Mehta also agreed that Dallewal's health should be the first priority for “all of us”. Maintaining that the presence of the Centre’s representatives might irk the agitating farmers, Mehta, however, said, they would be there if it helped defuse the situation.

The direction came during the hearing on the Haryana Government's petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's July 10 order to open the Shambhu border on an experimental basis to prevent inconvenience to the general public.

As farmers continued to protest at the Shambhu border since February, the Supreme Court had on September 2 set up a multi-member high-powered committee headed by Justice Nawab Singh — a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court —to talk to them to amicably resolve their grievances.

On Friday, the Bench said Justice Singh was on a foreign trip and the work of the committee would pick up after his return.

Farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, 2024, after they were stopped by security forces. Besides a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP), they were demanding the 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.

Acknowledging the farmers’ right to peaceful protests, the Bench had on December 2 cautioned them against disrupting public life. “In a democratic setup, you can engage in peaceful protests but do not cause inconvenience to people. You all know that the Khanauri border is a lifeline for Punjab. We are not commenting on whether the protest is right or wrong,” Justice Kant had said.