SC blames Punjab officials, some farmer leaders for false impression on breaking Dallewal's fast

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Punjab government and said its officials and some farmer leaders are creating a false impression in media that attempts are being made to break farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s fast.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan said it needs to clarify that court has never directed to break Dallewal’s protest but is only concerned with his health and wants medical aid to be provided to him urgently.

Justice Surya Kant said the court does not want to say much but it appears that Punjab government officials and some farmer leaders are making irresponsible statements in media to further complicate the situation on the ground.

“We need to check the bonafide of some farmer leaders towards Dallewal,” the bench observed.

Punjab advocate general Gurminder Singh denied any such attempt to complicate the situation and said efforts are being made to persuade Dallewal to take medical aid without breaking his fast.

The bench said since the chief secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) of Punjab are appearing virtually in the matter, hopefully the court’s message will go down the line.

It asked both officials to file their affidavit indicating compliance with the December 20 order in which the court has directed the Punjab government to shift Dallewal to the nearby medical facilities created by the state.

The apex court listed the matter for further hearing on January 6.

The top court also issued notice to the Centre on a fresh petition filed on behalf of Dallewal seeking direction to the Union government to comply with the promises, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) on crops, made to the protesting farmers in 2021 after the farm laws were repealed.