WHERE’S THE BIAS? SC SAYS FARM PANEL HAS NO POWER
The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed strong displeasure over the aspersions cast by some farmers' unions on members of the court-appointed committee to resolve the impasse over new farm laws and said it has not given any adjudicating authority to the panel.
“Where is the question of bias in this? We have not given adjudicating powers to the committee. You don't want to appear is understandable, but casting aspersions on someone because he expressed his view is not done. You don't need to brand anybody like this," said the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
The top court said that it has serious reservations that committee members were called names and branded, which has “become a cultural thing now".
Meanwhile, the hopes of Delhi Police to get a judicial order to stop the proposed tractor rally by the protesting farmers on the Republic Day in the national capital were dashed as the top court asked the Centre to withdraw the plea, saying it was a “police matter” and was not an issue for the “court to pass orders”.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said, “You malign people according to public opinion. I am very disappointed and sorry to see the kind opinion which has been appearing in this press” and questioned, “How can you malign them just because they have expressed some views in the past?” The bench also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice and sought response from Centre in two weeks on a separate plea of ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat', a farmers' body from Rajasthan, seeking removal of three remaining members of the apex-court appointed panel and the replacement of Bhupinder Singh Mann, who had recused himself from the panel. Taking note of submissions of a lawyer that opinions on the panel members have been formed on the basis of media reports about their profarm laws views, the bench said, “You people unnecessarily cast aspersions. Can the people expressing their views in some other context, be debarred from the committee? The CJI said, “One of the committee members Sardar Bhupinder Singh Mann had called for amendments in the law. Does this mean a person expressing his opinion cannot be in a committee? You cannot brand people like this. People should have an opinion. Why should people not have an opinion? Even judges do have and express their opinions”. The bench said, “Everyone argues before a judge as if he is arguing on a clean slate but branding people has become a cultural thing now. Even judges express views during hearing. That doesn't mean they can't decide an issue.
On January 12, the top court had stayed the implementation of the contentious new farm laws till further orders and constituted the four-member committee.