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The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Punjab authorities to promptly tackle the health situation of farmers' leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal who is on fast unto death for over 20 days and to take "extraordinary steps" to ensure his health.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan cautioned Punjab authorities on the repercussions if anything untoward happens to the farmer's leader. "The entire state machinery will be blamed if something untoward happens. Consider the grave repercussions. Do not feel any pressure and do what is required. Extraordinary conditions require extraordinary steps," told the bench to Punjab. Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh told the bench that pursuant to the court's last order, meetings were held between Punjab authorities, the Centre's representative and Dallewal and the court's concerns were brought to his notice. However, Dallewal refused to undergo medical tests or receive aid and the farmers declined to interact with the High Powered Committee (constituted by the court), Singh told the bench. Singh added that Dallewal's vitals are fine at the moment, but the doctors have said that indoor admission would be in his best interest. The apex court asked the farmers to not act under peer pressure and called on them to take account of the health of Dallewal, who needs to be healthy in order to be able to agitate the cause. The apex court now posted the matter for hearing on December 19 at 2 pm. On December 13, the top court asked the Union government and Punjab to ensure necessary medical aid is provided to Dallewal, the convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), who has been on a fast-unto-death at the Khanouri border. It had asked authorities to have a direct dialogue with Dallewal saying "his life is precious than any agitation" A person who is providing them (farmers) leadership and statesmanship must be protected, please take the steps immediately, the bench had told Centre and Punjab. The bench had also made it clear that force should not be used to make him eat food. Dallewal is on fast-unto-death since November 26 as part of the protests against the Central government for minimum support prices for crops. The apex court Had also asked the high-powered committee, constituted to resolve the grievances of farmers agitating at the Shambhu border, to convince the farmers to either shift the protesting venue and clear the national highway for smooth traffic or pause the protest for a while. The top court was hearing an appeal against the July 10 Punjab and Haryana High Court order by which it had directed it to open the highway and clear the barricading within seven days. In February, the Haryana government had set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway farmers' bodies announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. (ANI)
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