NEW DELHI – India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday halted the implementation of new laws that would reshape agriculture in the country and spark large-scale protests outside the capital, New Delhi, causing a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
The Supreme Court said it was suspending the laws until a committee of experts it appointed could consult government officials and protesting farmers to try to resolve the dispute. On the first day of the hearing on Monday, the Chief Justice criticized the government’s handling of the law, saying he was “extremely disappointed” and feared the protests could lead to violence.
“We don’t want anyone to get hurt or bloody,” said Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde during the hearing.
It was unclear whether the suspension would satisfy the protesting farmers. You have insisted on the complete repeal of the law. what they say would diminish the little government protection they have and turn them over to corporations.
On the eve of the verdict, local news reports, citing farmers’ leaders, suggested that they might not be able to take part in committees and viewed it as a government ploy to exhaust the protesters.
But shortly after Tuesday’s ruling, AP Singh, one of the lawyers representing some of the unions involved in the protests, called it a “victory for the farmers”. Union leaders said they would respond after discussions.
Tens of thousands of farmers have been besieging New Delhi for more than six weeks and are setting up well-organized protest camps that stretch for tens of kilometers at all the main entrances to the capital. They have held on to their ranks despite the winter cold, frequent rain and dozens of deaths.
The government of Mr Modi, who has said he wants to nearly double the Indian economy by 2024, is hoping private investment in the troubled agricultural sector will accelerate growth. The new laws, which Parliament rushed to pass in September and sparked protests from opposition parties, would ease some state regulations to encourage private investors to deal directly with farmers.
Even with these regulations, such as guaranteed minimum prices for certain crops, farmers have faced increasing debts, which has driven many of them to suicide. They fear that the new laws will remove the little protection they have enjoyed and that they will have difficulty fighting corporate giants for fair treatment.
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