Farmers' Protests: Punjab and Haryana High Court orders judicial probe into death of young farmer

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday ordered a judicial probe into the recent death of a 22-year-old youth during the ongoing agitation of farmers who have been protesting at the Punjab-Haryana borders since last month [Uday Pratap Singh V/S Union Of India And Others]..A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji ordered the setting up of a committee of a retired High Court judge and two Additional Director Generals of Police (ADGP) to probe the farmer’s death..The Committee will be headed by Justice (retd.) Jaishree Thakur who will be assisted by ADGP Punjab Parmod Ban and ADGP Haryana Amitabh Singh Dhillon. The panel will have to submit a report on the incident within a month..According to the court order, the Committee will file its report on these aspects:1. Whether Punjab or Haryana Police will have jurisdiction to investigate the victim's death.2. The cause of victim's death as in which type of weapon, the bullet or pellet was used. 3. Whether the force used was commensurate with the situation.4. The issue of compensation to the victim's family..The Court ordered that the retired judge be paid a remuneration of ₹5 lakh for a period of each month and same shared equally by both Punjab and Haryana. "Both the States shall also ensure that adequate security by way of one P.S.O. each is provided to the Retired High Court Judge who is heading the Committee," it ordered..The farmer, Shubhkaran Singh from Bathinda in Punjab, was killed last month in clashes between security personnel and the farmers at the Khanauri border. Punjab Police had registered a Zero FIR (an FIR registered irrespective of the location of the crime) in the matter and then transferred the matter to Haryana Police in whose jurisdiction the killing allegedly took place..Various unions representing the farmers had on February 13 begun to march towards Delhi to protest for their demands including enactment of a law to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.The farmers, currently camping at the borders of Punjab and Haryana, have faced stiff resistance from the Haryana Police who have used force to prevent them from marching towards the national capital..The High Court today passed the direction for a judicial probe into Singh’s death during the hearing of a batch of petitions related to the farmers protest.On February 29, the Court had issued notice on an application seeking judicial inquiry into the farmer’s death.A fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was also filed recently for registration of a criminal case against Haryana Police for alleged excesses against the farmers..During the hearing today, the Court questioned the presence of children and women in the agitation after the Haryana government submitted photographs in this regard. "It is a sad state of affairs that children who should be studying at the schools are being taught and are being exposed to violence when they are not supposed to be," it said.The Court added that young minds being exposed to violent acts would lead to have a damaging affect on the psychology of such children, "apart from that the threat of being injured on account of stone pelting which was taking place in the apparent riot like situation.".[Read Order]