India’s top court suspends contentious farming laws
New Delhi, India - India’s top court suspended on Tuesday the implementation of new agriculture laws that have sparked weeks of demonstrations by tens of thousands of farmers outside New Delhi.
The Supreme Court said it wanted to facilitate mediation between the government and the protesting farmers who fear that the legislation will leave them at the mercy of big business.
“We are going to suspend the implementation of the three farm laws until further orders,” Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde said. The court in Delhi added that it would form a committee of experts to try and resolve the protracted dispute, which has emerged as a major challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Every person who is genuinely interested in solving the problem is expected to go before the committee,” the court added.
“The committee will not punish you or pass any orders. It will submit a report to us.”
The government has said the changes would allow farmers to sell to private buyers instead of just at state markets. But the demonstrators - mostly from states in northern India near Delhi - fear that under the new system, large corporations would squeeze them for profits and destroy their livelihoods.
They have vowed to continue their protest until the laws are repealed. The government has said it would not consider repealing the laws.
Several meetings have been held between the government and farmers, but have not yielded any results. The next meeting was expected to be held in midJanuary.
Government failed miserably: Left leader
A senior leftist leader of India has criticised the government for its failure in properly addressing the concerns of the protesting farmers, for which the apex court had to give its verdict against any immediate implementation of the new laws.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury welcomed the Supreme Court’s order calling it 'a clear message given by the Supreme Court that the government has failed miserably in handling the farmers’ protest so far’.
“Every minister including the Prime Minister repeatedly said the laws would not be withdrawn. Now the Supreme Court’s decision keeping farmers' struggle in mind is a welcome step and a way forward,” Yechury told ANI news agency.
The CPI-M general secretary said as the laws have been put on hold, the government must discuss its reforms with farmers and other stakeholders and bring its proposals to the parliament.