The Supreme Court on Tuesday formed a committee to get a “clearer picture” of the Centre’s three farm laws, which have sparked widespread protests among the farmers, ANI reported. The apex court has named committee members: Bhupinder Singh Mann of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Anil Ghanwat of Shetkeri Sangthana, Pramod Kumar Joshi and agriculture economist Ashok Gulati.
The SC passed the order while hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of the three farm laws and removal of the protesting farmers from Delhi’s border areas.
A former member of Rajya Sabha, Mann is recognised for his contribution to farmers’ struggle. Shetkeri Sangthana is an apex farmer body in Maharashtra, Karnataka and other neighbouring states.
Ashok Gulati, a noted agricultural economist, is a former member of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), which recommends Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 22 crops to the Government of India. He is currently a member of the Task Force on Agriculture set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under NITI Aayog, the government’s think tank.
Besides forming the committee, the apex court has stayed the three laws “till further orders.”
Farmers, chiefly from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting for over a month over the three farm laws that were enacted in September during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
