Supreme Court Stays Farm Laws

Handing over a huge blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of three farm laws that triggered a massive farmers' agitation.

Since November, farmers have been camping at the gates of Delhi, to lodge a protest against farm laws, passed in mid-September 2020. They believe the reforms would not benefit them, although the government has repeatedly said these laws would help in increasing their income. After farmers launched the protest, the government initiated dialogue. So far, eight rounds of talks have happened but remained inconclusive. As both parties sat on the negotiation table several times, the matter reached the Supreme Court. On 11th January, The SC SC expressed concern over the laws and outrightly said that the Indian Government had failed to solve the problem. The CJI SA Bobde told the Attorney General of India - He is the government’s lawyer- that if the government does not put the law on hold, the SC will interfere and put the law on hold. However since the government did not do this, handing over a huge blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre, the Supreme Court on Tuesday 12th January stayed (put the law on hold) the implementation of three farm laws. A bench, led by CJI SA Bobde, added that a committee will be formed for negotiations, hoping that experts may end the problem. 

SC proposed the names of Ashok Gulati, Pramod Joshi, Harsimrat Mann,, and Anil Ghanwat for the committee. Further, the top court also issued a notice to farmers' unions on a plea, filed by Centre through Delhi Police, to halt the tractor rally planned for Republic Day. Some 20,000 tractors are expected to participate in the march. The Centre argued that this rally will not only cause serious law and order problems but also embarrass the nation globally. The farmers said they do not accept the committee selected by the SC. This is because they feel the people on the committee are on the government’s side. They have said that they will continue with their protests. 

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