The Supreme Court declined on Monday to halt the judicial inquiry ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court into the death of a 22-year-old farmer during a clash between farmers and security personnel at the Punjab-Haryana border.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan dismissed the argument of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Haryana government, that such an order for a judicial probe would demoralize the police force.
The bench suggested waiting for the committee’s report and assured that the judiciary would address the morale of both the force and the people.
Mehta highlighted the seriousness of the situation during protests and argued that it was challenging for the police to function in the presence of swords, weapons, and tanks.
“I am not blaming the agitators but with people armed with lethal weapons, police will not be able to do anything,” Mehta stated before the apex court.
“In public agitation, some kind of miscreant takes undue advantage of the situation,” Justice Kant responded.
The Solicitor General also mentioned that 67 policemen were injured during the protests.
The Supreme Court has now scheduled the matter for a hearing on April 19.
The Haryana government had filed a special leave petition in the apex court on March 11 against the decision of the High Court.
The 22-year-old farmer, Shubhkaran Singh, from Bathinda in Punjab, lost his life on February 21 during a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at the Khanauri border.
The incident occurred when some protesting farmers tried to approach barricades and were halted by security personnel from crossing the state border and proceeding to Delhi. The High Court had constituted a Committee led by retired High Court judge Jaishree Thakur to investigate various aspects of the case, stating that the investigation into Singh’s death could not be entrusted solely to Punjab or Haryana due to “obvious reasons as both states have several things to cover up.”
The committee was assisted by Punjab Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Promod Ban and Haryana ADGP Amitabh Singh Dhillon.