Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Tuesday said the four-member panel set up by the Supreme Court to resolve the deadlock over the contentious farm laws "does not inspire confidence, saying these members have been in favour of the legislations. He said the protesting farmers have maintained that they would not appear before the SC-appointed panel in the matter. The credentials of these four people (apex court panel), I think, do not inspire confidence because of the way they have leaning towards these laws, Jakhar said here.
With all due respect to their (four members) competencies, and they are entitled to their own views, but they all are pro (farm) laws. How can one expect them to understand the problems or reservations of farmers? I do not see a resolution of this problem with this committee, he said. The Congress leader asserted that the Centre should accept the farmers' demand of repealing, what he described as, black laws.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the controversial new farm laws till further orders, and decided to set up the 4-member committee to resolve the impasse over them between the Centre and farmers' unions protesting at Delhi borders. The four members of the committee are Bhupinder Singh Mann, President of Bhartiya Kisan Union; Anil Ghanwat, President of Shetkeri Sangthana, Maharashtra; Pramod Kumar Joshi, director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute; and agriculture economist Ashok Gulati.
The farmers who have been camping at the Delhi borders for over a month are demanding a repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee to minimum support price for crops.