The Supreme Court on Saturday directed the State of Punjab to shift farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal to a hospital by December 31, on account of his deteriorating health condition.
Dallewal has been sitting on a fast-unto-death since November 26 at the Khanauri border, seeking, among other demands, a statutory guarantee of Minimum Support Price for crops. His health has been continuously deteriorating on account of the fast as well as age-related ailments. He is also a cancer patient.
On Friday, the Vacation Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia had issued notice on a contempt petition filed against the Punjab Chief Secretary and the Punjab Director General of Police for non-compliance with the Court’s order dated December 20 to provide immediate medical aid to Dallewal.
It had further directed the Punjab Chief Secretary, as well as the State’s Director General of Police, to file a compliance affidavit regarding hospitalisation of Dallewal.
The affidavits filed today stated that if the evacuation of Dallewal was not peaceful considering that the farmers were resisting his shifting, there would be “collateral damage” in terms of the loss of lives and property.
Reading the affidavits, Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh said that Dallewal has refused any medical intervention as it would undermine the movement’s cause.
He said the areas where the agitation was going on, were under siege by the agitating farmers. The protestors had welded the tracker trolley together, forming a strong encirclement of the area where Dallewal was observing his fast. All efforts to persuade Dallewal have remained unsuccessful, Singh added.
As per the affidavits, on November 25-26, Dallewal was evacuated from the protest site and taken to Dayanand Medical College for three days. This alerted the farmers that there could be a similar evacuation in future. There have been calls to the youth to join the protest side. The number of farmers has now reached up to 3000.
The Vacation Bench orally observed that the affidavits rather showed that the State was supporting Dallewal’s cause to remain on a hunger strike.
The top court of the country came down heavily on the State for allowing the manpower of such magnitude to reach the site this periodically and systematically.
A peaceful agitation by farmers for the purpose of raising their demands and voice in a democratic manner was understandable, but preventing a person from shifting to the hospital, who required immediate medical aid, was something completely unheard of, noted the Vacation Bench, adding that such people were not his well-wishers.
Terming it an abetment to suicide, the Apex Court said by not letting Dallewal admitted to a hospital, they were depriving the leadership of a very precious farmer leader who has acted completely non-political and appeared to be the undisputed leader of farmers’ cause.
If they wanted him to die at the site, their intention was questionable. A message should be conveyed to the farmers that the Supreme Court was not impressed to see the violent face of their so-called agitation, added the Court.
It further said the Punjab government first created a problem and then when the situation went out of control, filed a plea in the Court.
The protesting farmers had gathered on Khanduri border following the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, which directed the Punjab government to unblock the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana. The border was closed in February this year due to the farmers’ protests.
When Singh said that Punjab government was helpless and saddled, the Apex Court asked whether it should record this in it’s order that a state machinery was expressing helplessness in such a situation. It further asked Singh whether he knew the consequences of a constitutionally elected government making such a statement.
Both the Punjab DGP and the State Chief Secretary, who were present in the Court, said the State needed to consider factors such as the resistance of farmer leaders while attempting to shift Dallewal to the hospital.
Noting that resistance to a lawful action should be dealt with by the law enforcement agencies, the top court of the country directed the Punjab government to ensure that Dallewal was not presurrised to break his fast in the hospital.
It further expressed absolute ‘unsatisfaction’ with affidavits filed by the Chief Secretary and DGP, saying that they explained ‘nothing’ about the situation.
The Vacation Bench then asked the Union Government to do something to diffuse the situation and listed the matter for hearing on December 31.
On December 18, Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh had apprised the Court that Dallewal required immediate hospitalisation. His medical reports were subsequently filed before the Court in which it was observed that his condition was deteriorating.
On December 20, the Apex Court had asked the Punjab government to either shift Dallewal to a nearby makeshift hospital at the Khanauri border, said to have been set up at a distance of 700 meters from the site, or any other well-equipped hospital, where his health could be monitored round-the-clock.