The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to post on July 22 plea by the Haryana government challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s recent interim order directing the opening of the Shambhu border on an experimental basis within a week so that the general public is not inconvenienced.
The petition was mentioned by Lokesh Sinhal, Senior Additional Advocate General of Haryana and advocate Akshay Amritanshu for an early hearing before a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant. The bench agreed to list the case for hearing on July 22.
In February, the Haryana government had set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway after farmers unions announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The High Court, in its July 10 order, observed that the border is a “lifeline” for citizens’ movement between Punjab and Haryana and to Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and its closure is causing immense inconvenience to the general public.
The appeal of the Haryana government said that the High Court passed such a direction on an ‘experimental basis’ without appreciating the seriousness of the situation on the ground.
In it’s appeal against the order of the High Court Haryana, it stated, “The impugned interim order has the consequence of causing serious law and order repercussions in the State of Haryana and threatens the life and property in and around the Shambu border as well as the other parts of Haryana, which the State government, i.e., the petitioner, is duty bound to protect under the Constitution.”