The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, asked the Punjab government to submit complete comparative medical reports of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on an indefinite fast – ‘fast unto death’ – to obtain an opinion from the medical board of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.
A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh asked the Punjab chief secretary to submit Dallewal’s test reports during the course of the day to the top court’s Registrar.
The Registrar then communicated the reports to the AIIMS Director for an opinion on the test reports from the medical board, the bench said.
Informing the bench that now there is a medical facility just 10 meters near the protest site, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Punjab government said that Dallewal’s health parameters are “improving”.
On a poser from the bench asking how a person, who had been on fast for nearly 50 days had his health parameters improving, Sibal clarified that the fasting leader’s parameter is not improving rather it is stable.
The bench posted the matter for hearing on January 22, 2025.
Dallewal, the convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) has been on a ‘fast-unto-death’ at the Khanouri border since November 26, 2024, to press the Centre to accept the farmers’ demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The top court seized of an appeal by the Haryana government against the July 10, 2024, Punjab and Haryana High Court order by which Haryana was directed to open the highway and clear the barricading within seven days.
In February, the Haryana government had set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway farmers bodies announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.