NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Saturday gave the Punjab government time until December 31 to convince farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike for over a month, to move to a hospital.
In a hearing, a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan criticized the Punjab government for allowing the situation to worsen and not following earlier orders to provide medical aid to Dallewal.
The Punjab government said that it is facing resistance from protesting farmers who have surrounded Dallewal and are preventing him from being taken to a hospital.
“He (Dallewal) has refused any kind of medical aid, including (IV) drips, saying that it will undermine the cause of movement,” Punjab advocate general Gurminder Singh said, informing the court that a team of experts visited the protest site to persuade Dallewal to accept medical assistance.
The bench, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the state’s efforts and said those preventing Dallewal from receiving medical care could be committing the criminal offence of abetment to suicide.
The court allowed the Punjab government to seek logistical support from the Centre if necessary and pressed on the importance of shifting Dallewal to a hospital. It observed that Dallewal might be under “peer pressure” and questioned the intentions of those stopping him from receiving medical help, asking, “Are they interested in his life or something else?”
Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court had directed the Punjab government to ensure that Dallewal receives medical assistance. It also issued a notice to the Punjab government on a contempt petition against the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police for not complying with its order to provide medical aid.
Dallewal has been on an indefinite hunger strike at the Khanauri border since November 26, demanding that the Centre accept farmers’ demands, including a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.