The heavily fortified Shambhu border crossing between Punjab, Haryana (File).
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has asked tough questions of the Haryana government after a High Court order this week directing the re-opening of the Shambhu border crossing, which has been locked down since February to block farmers protesting the centre’s agricultural policies from marching on Delhi.
“How can the state block a highway? It has a duty to regulate traffic… we are saying ‘keep the border open, but also control it,” the top court said Friday afternoon in oral observations on the matter.
In a humorous but telling moment, the two-judge bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan asked the state’s lawyer if he travelled by road, and specifically the highway.
“I think you travel by road…” Justice Kant asked, to which the lawyer replied, “Yes.”
“So you (too) must be facing trouble…” the judge shot back.
The state had appealed a section of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order, which directed a judicial inquiry into the death of farmer Shubhkaran Singh, 22. Mr Singh – one of thousands who had marched to Shambhu (on the Punjab-Haryana border) after talks broke down, and were met with fortifications of barbed wire, shipping containers, and cement barricades – was allegedly shot dead.
READ | High Court Orders Removal Of Barricades At Shambhu Border
The war zone-like blockades set up by the state stopped the army of farmers but also halted all traffic on the highway, which is one of the key roads leading into the national capital.
The High Court on Wednesday directed the highway to be re-opened within a week “on an experimental basis”, noting the number of farmers camped at the site had dwindled to a few hundred. “Both states shall endeavour to ensure the highway at Shambhu border is restored…”
Both states were also directed to take “effective steps to enforce law and order” at Shambhu and along the highway, “… if protesters do not remain within limits set down by the state”.
Faced with the High Court’s order, the Haryana government then moved the Supreme Court, and was promptly asked, “Why does the state want to challenge the order?”
The Supreme Court also reminded the ruling BJP that “farmers are citizens”, and suggested authorities, should they face mass protests in the future, ensure a measure of consideration.
“Give them food and good medical facilities. They will come, raise slogans and go back…”
Farmers’ Protests In February
In early February around 200 farmer unions – an estimated one lakh farmers from neighbouring Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh – began moving towards Delhi in a replay of the 2020/21 protests, in which dozens died and the city was blockaded and cut-off for months.
First visuals of clashes between the farmers and police from Shambhu, which is around 200 km from Delhi, showed outnumbered cops dropping smoke bombs from drones to disperse the farmers.
NDTV ARCHIVES | Farmers Try To Cross Punjab-Haryana Border, Tear Gas Used
Videos also showed farmers, with scarves wrapped around their faces, jumping concrete barriers to push aside metal barricades, and war zone-like scenes with green fields shrouded in smoke and gun fire (from tear gas guns) in the background. In one video farmers are throwing stones at the police.
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