SC asks Haryana to open blockade at Shambhu border

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Haryana government to remove barricading at the Shambhu border near Ambala, where farmers have been camping since February 13. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan questioned the Haryana government authorities for blocking the highway. “How can a state block a highway? It is its duty to regulate traffic. We are saying open it but regulate it,” the bench told the counsel appearing for the Haryana government. The bench’s observation came after the counsel said that the Haryana government was in the process of filing an appeal against the July 10 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which directed it to open the highway within seven days. “Why do you want to challenge the high court order? Farmers are also citizens of this country. Give them food and good medical care. They will come, raise slogans and go back. I think you don’t mean movement by road,” the bench said. The high court on July 10
In February, the Haryana government had put up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway after farmer organisations announced that they would march to Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The apex court was hearing a plea by the Haryana government challenging the March 7 order of the Punjab and Haryana high court ordering the formation of a committee to probe the death of 22-year-old farmer Shubhkaran Singh during the farmers’ agitation at the Punjab-Haryana border.