India Staff Correspondent Sambhav Sharma, a final year law student at Amity Law School, reports on the Supreme Court of India’s response to a recent farmers’ protest against the government in which multiple protesters were killed. He files this for JURIST from New Delhi.

Yesterday the Supreme Court of India took suo motu cognizance of an incident in Lakhimpur Kheri city in Uttar Pradesh which allegedly led to the death of around 8 farmers on Sunday.

A video that surfaced on social media showed peacefully protesting farmers being trampled by a convoy of cars, allegedly belonging to Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni. The graphic sight of innocent farmers being run over gave rise to strong condemnation by many. The farmers were protesting against the three farm laws passed by the Indian Parliament during the 2020 monsoon session. Despite an uproar from opposition party leaders and farmer groups, the contentious bills were given assent to by the President of India on September 27, 2020. Thousands of farmers throughout the country have been protesting the government’s inconsiderate attitude ever since.

Several political leaders have spoken out against the Lakhimpur incident and the lackadaisical attitude of the government, including the silence of the Prime Minister and Home Minister of India. Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra tweeted how the Union government has stayed mum on the issue when it has spoken at length about less urgent matters in the past. Priyanka Gandhi, senior leader of the Indian National Congress party, went on a hunger strike on Monday after she was detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police in the town of Hargaon. She was on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, where she planned to meet with the families of four farmers who had died. In a video address (in Hindi) to the Prime Minister, Priyanka Gandhi urged him to uphold the sanctity of the Indian Constitution, on which he took his oath, and save the interests of the farmers. She further demanded that Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni be dismissed from service. After being released from what is being termed as her arbitrary detention, Priyanka Gandhi, along with her brother and former president of Congress Rahul Gandhi met the families of the deceased and offered their condolences.

Today the matter came up at 11:40 AM IST before the Supreme Court bench of Hon’ble Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli.  I was in the courtroom. Chief Justice Ramanna noted that upon receipt of letters from two lawyers about the incident, the court had instructed the registry to treat them as Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitions. However, due to some miscommunication, the matter got listed as a suo motu hearing.

The suo motu Supreme Court matter resumed at 12:20 PM IST after a short pass over to call both lawyers who had sent the letters to be present. Hon’ble Justice Surya Kant remarked that the farmers have indeed been murdered. The court questioned the Additional Advocate General present and asked her to file a status report of the FIR (First Information Report) registered and the active steps taken by the government. The court also directed that the mother of one of the deceased be admitted to the nearest hospital when it was informed that she is in a critical condition. The Additional Advocate General was directed to seek instructions and the matter is now listed for tomorrow.

A First Information Report was filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police earlier this week against the accused Ashish Mishra under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), inter alia, sections 302 for murder, 120-B for criminal conspiracy, 304-A for causing death due to reckless driving, and 338 for causing grievous hurt by doing rash and negligent acts so as to endanger human life. A single-member judicial commission of retired Allahabad High Court judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava was also appointed today by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe into the violence and death of the farmers.

Having followed the issue right from its genesis and the Supreme Court proceedings, I have my own set of reservations. The government’s inaction and silence during such turbulent times is more than worrying. This isn’t the first time the Prime Minister has been accused of apathy and neglect for the concerns of the citizens. More appalling is that the Prime Minister seems to be unbothered by such allegations. In any country, let alone the world’s largest constitutional democracy, such incidents must most certainly be followed by a national address by the government. However, we are still waiting for even the slightest of a mention, or even an acknowledgment from the elected leaders. In the meanwhile, Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni was invited as the Chief Guest at a Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) event, and the prime accused, his son Ashish Mishra. remains a free man.

The farmers have been protesting day and night for over a year. The Supreme Court recently commented that the protests must stop now that the matter is in court. The bench remarked that the protestors must “either choose the court or the road”. I agree that the court must be trusted when a matter is sub judice. However, that does not take away the citizen’s constitutional right to peacefully protest. The protests are not meant to coerce the courts to decide in favour of the farmers, nor do the protestors have such power and authority, honestly. But where peaceful protestors are trampled and maimed, allegedly by a sitting cabinet member’s son, I certainly don’t know whether asking them to “trust the process” and “sit tight” is reasonable. How can they have any confidence in the system when they have not only been left to fend for themselves for the past year, but also are subjected to such fatal acts of cruelty. The government has always looked the other way, which is one of the reasons why the protests continue. The protestors want to be heard. Alas, when such violence is met with silence, what is a common man to do but take to the streets?