The Supreme Court advised farmers’ leader Dallewal that while peaceful protests are allowed, they should not disrupt others. This statement came as they closed a habeas corpus petition.
The Supreme Court today dismissed a habeas corpus petition that sought the release of farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, head of the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-political), after learning he was no longer in illegal custody. While dismissing the petition, the Court advised farmers protesting at the Punjab borders to avoid blocking highways and inconveniencing the public. The case was brought under Article 32 of the Constitution, claiming Dallewal was “unlawfully detained” near the Khanauri border in Punjab, just a day before he planned to start a hunger strike over unmet promises from the Union Government related to the 2020-21 farmers’ protest.
The petition alleged that Dallewal was taken at around 2 a.m. on November 26 by about 250 officers from the Central Reserve Police Force, along with Haryana and Punjab Police, who “broke and cut through the fiberglass wall of the temporary room on the Khanauri border highway where Mr. Jagjit Singh Dallewal was sleeping, and abducted him to an unknown location.” Filed on November 29 by Dallewal’s ‘next friend’ Advocate Guninder Kaur Gill, the petition noted that he had been “incommunicado and untraceable” for four days and claimed that his detention set a “tyrannical precedent.” A two-Judge Bench, consisting of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, dismissed the petition after confirming that Dallewal was “no longer in alleged illegal custody,” adding, “We have seen that he has been released and he even persuaded a fellow protestor to end his hunger strike on Saturday.”
The Bench stated that in a democracy, peaceful protests are allowed, but they should not disrupt others. They acknowledged that the Khanauri border is crucial for Punjab and refrained from judging the protest’s validity. The Bench noted that the farmers’ concerns are already being addressed in another case, so they would not consider the issues in the current petition. The petition claims that Dallewal was detained without following legal procedures, as no arrest memo was provided, no First Information Report was filed, and his family was not notified. It also states that he was not brought before a Magistrate within the required 24 hours.
The petition argues that the State and its authorities are setting a dangerous example by unlawfully detaining Mr. Jagjit Singh Dallewal, which goes against constitutional values. It claims that the State is trying to instill fear among other farmers protesting nationwide. The Union Government’s unfulfilled promises include ensuring a minimum support price based on the Swaminathan Committee’s recommendations, accountability for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, and justice for the victims and their families. The protesters are also calling for the withdrawal of cases related to the 2020-21 protests, no penalties for stubble burning, and subsidies for electricity, along with compensation for families of those who died during the protests.
Cause Title: Jagjit Singh Dallewal Through: Guninder Kaur Gill Next Friend of Jagjit Singh Dallewal v. Union Of India And Ors. [W.P.(Crl.) 491/2024]
