The Supreme Court on Wednesday suggested the formation of a panel with the representatives of the farmers and the Centre to resolve the deadlock over the three new agricultural laws, Live Law reported.

“Government’s engagement with farmers won’t work out it seems,” Chief Justice of India SA Bobde noted. He added that the Centre and the farmers should sit together and prepare a tentative list of committee members.

The Supreme Court said that the standoff over the new laws will have to be resolved urgently “otherwise this will soon become a national issue”.

The bench comprising of the chief justice and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian heard a petition filed by law student Rishabh Sharma to remove the protesting farmers from Delhi’s border points.

The plea contended that commuters were facing difficulties because of the road blockades and that the gatherings might lead to a rise in the coronavirus cases, according to the Hindustan Times. The matter will be heard again on Thursday.

Follow today’s live updates on the farmers protest.

Tens of thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at key entry points to Delhi for the last 21 days. The farmers fear the agricultural reforms will weaken the minimum support price mechanism under which the government buys agricultural produce, will lead to the deregulation of crop-pricing, deny them fair remuneration for their produce and leave them at the mercy of corporations.

The government, on the other hand, maintains that the new laws will give farmers more options in selling their produce, lead to better pricing, and free them from unfair monopolies.

On December 9, the farmers had rejected the Centre’s written proposal on the amendments it was willing to make to the three agriculture laws, and intensified their protests. Both parties had also held several rounds of talks but failed to reach a consensus.