New Delhi: Attorney General K K Venugopal told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that Khalistan supporters have infiltrated farmers’ protests against the three agricultural laws.
Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justice AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian told the AG that if there was an intrusion by a banned organization, the government would have to confirm it and asked it to file an affidavit by Wednesday. The AG replied, “Yes, I will file an affidavit and an IB report.”
The bench made this comment senior advocate P.K. s. Following Narasimha, who was supporting the agricultural laws representing the Consortium of the Indian Farmers Union, groups such as “Sikhs for Justice” are opposed to the laws. “Such protest can be very dangerous”, Narasimha said. The Chief Justice told the AG, “Will you confirm it?” The AG replied “We have said that Khalistanis have infiltrated the protests.” He said that the government cannot allow one lakh people to protest against farm laws. “One group can go to Parliament … another group can come to the Supreme Court”, the AG said.
The Chief Justice further told the AG, “Is it not in your power to check the number of people and see if they are armed or not, and if there is an intrusion by a banned organization? The AG reiterated the government Have? File an IB report on the intrusive aspect.
The AG also told some protesters that the tractor rally would take place on Republic Day, and cited an injunction application filed by the Delhi Police before the apex court to prevent farmers from causing any disruption.
The Chief Justice said that the court will issue notice and hear the case on Monday.
At the end of the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta reiterated that the government has been saying since day one that some other interests have joined the protest to spread apprehension about the farm laws and mislead them.
The Supreme Court ended the hearing by halting the implementation of three agricultural laws and constituted a four-member committee to hear the grievances of the farmers.