A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking contempt action against the Punjab Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary, and the Director General of Police (DGP) of the State, for not complying with the Apex Court’s July 2024 verdict ordering to maintain the status quo at the Shambhu border, with regards to the protesting farmers.
Filed by Sehajpreet Singh, the petition alleged that Punjab Police carried out a ‘forced’ eviction operation at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders, involving over 3,000 police personnel, in which protesting farmers were forcibly removed, their camps were dismantled and several leaders, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher, were detained.
The action was taken without obtaining any modification or permission from the Supreme Court, alleged the plea.
The contempt petition alleged that senior officials of the Punjab Police, under the direction of the state administration, carried out a large-scale action against the protesting farmers at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders on March 19.
The operation involved the use of heavy force, the dismantling of protest sites, illegal arrests, and the destruction of vehicles belonging to the farmers. The forceful removal of protestors from the agitation site was extensively covered by the media, by way of broadcast on news channels and publishing of articles in various newspapers, noted the plea.
Filed by Advocate-on-Record Snehpreet Kaur and drawn by Advocate Angrej Singh, this is the second contempt petition against the Punjab authorities in the matter.
The Apex Court is seized of a contempt petition against the Punjab authorities for failing to shift Dallewal to the hospital in light of fast-unto-death.
The matter settled after Dallewal accepted medical aid and agreed to hold talks with the Union government. The protesting farmers met Justice (Retired) Nawab Singh, the Chairperson of the High-Powered Committee constituted by the Supreme Court to negotiate with the protesters, after persuasion by the Punjab government.
On July 24, 2024, the Apex Court had delivered the verdict on a petition filed by the State of Haryana challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court order to unblock the Shambhu Border, which was closed in February 2024 to prevent the movement of protesting farmers from Punjab to Haryana.
The top court of the country had directed the states of Punjab and Haryana to submit their respective proposals for the removal of barricades in a phased matter for the free flow of traffic and to redress the inconvenience experienced by the public at large. It later formed a committee to hold negotiations with the protesters.
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