In an order issued on Tuesday, the court said the decision to suspend the laws could alleviate the hurt feelings of the farmers and encourage them to come to the negotiating table with confidence and good faith.
The laws were first passed in September. The Indian government has been offering guaranteed prices to farmers for certain crops for decades, providing long-term certainty that enables them to make investments for the next crop cycle. The new laws, initiated by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, instead allowed farmers to sell their goods to anyone at any price, giving them more freedom to do things like selling directly to buyers and to other states. to sell.
But farmers argued that the new rules would be worse off by making it easier for businesses to exploit agricultural workers and help large businesses lower prices. While farmers can sell crops at increased prices if demand is there, they may conversely struggle to meet the minimum price in years when there is too much supply in the market.
More than 100,000 people have been protesting against the laws since the end of November.
There were days of seating along each of the three borders of New Delhi. Farmers blocked roads and set up temporary camps, some of which slept on the road or in their tractors. They arrived from different states to take part in the mass protests and sometimes clashed with the police.
All along, the government held eight rounds of talks with leaders of more than 30 farmers’ unions who opposed the laws – but the talks did not go anywhere.
The stalemate forced the Supreme Court to suspend the laws on Tuesday and order the establishment of a four-member conciliation committee to help the parties negotiate in a ‘friendly atmosphere’. According to the order, the conciliation committee must meet within ten days and submit its first report within two months of the meeting.
The court also said on Tuesday that the minimum aid price protection would be maintained until further orders – one of the primary points of friction between the government and farmers. According to the court order, “no farmer may be deprived or deprived of his title as a result of any steps taken in terms of the Farm Acts.”
However, the umbrella group representing farmers’ unions, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, has repeatedly said he will not take part in any mediation by the court – and repeated it again after the new order was issued.
“It is the malice of the government that they want to relieve the pressure on their shoulders, so they have asked for the High Court Committee, which we are opposed to,” Balbir Singh Rajewal, the agricultural leader, said at a news conference on Tuesday, adding that the committee members are all pro-government.
The attorney general representing the government in the matter also criticized the Supreme Court order, saying they had “vehemently opposed” an interim opposition.
The laws were so controversial because agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s 1.3 billion people, and farmers have been arguing for years to raise the minimum guaranteed prices. They are the largest constituency in the country – making farming a central political issue.