The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a batch of pleas pertaining to tractor rally violence in the national capital on the Republic Day, including the one which has sought setting up of a commission headed by a retired apex court judge to inquire into the incident.
The tractor parade on January 26 that was to highlight the demands of farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.
The petitions would be taken up for hearing by a bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
One of the pleas filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari has sought setting up of a three-member inquiry commission under the chairmanship of a former apex court judge and comprising of two retired high court judges for collecting and recording evidence and submit a report on the January 26 violence to the top court in a time bound manner.
He has also sought direction to the concerned authority to lodge FIRs against individuals or organisations responsible for the violence and causing dishonour of the National Flag on January 26.
Another petition has been filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma who has sought a direction to the concerned authority as well as the media not to declare farmers as “terrorist” without any evidence.
Sharma has claimed in his plea that there was a “planned conspiracy” to sabotage the protest by farmers’ and they were allegedly declared as “terrorist” without any evidence.
He has sought directions to prohibit propagation of “false allegations and actions declaring” farmers as terrorist without any evidence.
Besides the petitions filed by Tiwari and Sharma, the court would also hear some other pleas related to the incident.
In his petition, Tiwari has said that farmers’ protest against the three new agri laws is going on for over two months but it took a “violent turn” during the tractor parade.
“Unfortunately, the tractor march took a violent turn leaving injuries and destruction of public property. This incident also effected the daily life of the public. The internet services were interrupted as government ordered the operators to suspend the same. In the present time, the internet services are very essential to carry out the work in different professions especially in advocacy as the courts and our Supreme Court of India is functioning online,” Tiwari has said in his plea.
It said that clash between the farmers and police on the Republic Day has caught the attention of the entire world.
“The matter is serious because when the protest was going on peacefully for last two months then suddenly, how it turned into violent movement and led violence on January 26.