SC posts for July 22 appeal of Haryana govt against HC’s order to open Shambhu border

New Delhi [India], July 16 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to post on July 22 plea by the Haryana government challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s recent interim order directing the opening of the Shambhu border on an experimental basis within a week so that the general public is not inconvenienced.

The petition was mentioned by Lokesh Sinhal, Senior Additional Advocate General of Haryana and advocate Akshay Amritanshu for an early hearing before a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant. The bench agreed to list the case for hearing on July 22.

In February, the Haryana government had set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway after farmers unions announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

The High Court, in its July 10 order, observed that the border is a “lifeline” for citizens’ movement between Punjab and Haryana and to Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and its closure is causing immense inconvenience to the general public.

The appeal of the Haryana government said that the High Court passed such a direction on an ‘experimental basis’ without appreciating the seriousness of the situation on the ground.

In it’s appeal against the order of the High Court Haryana, it stated, “The impugned interim order has the consequence of causing serious law and order repercussions in the State of Haryana and threatens the life and property in and around the Shambu border as well as the other parts of Haryana, which the State government, i.e., the petitioner, is duty bound to protect under the Constitution.”

The appeal further said that despite the categorical submission regarding the law and order issue that may arise, the threat to life and property and despite a plea to shift the agitators out of the National Highway, the High Court has, on an ‘experimental basis’ directed for the opening of the Shambhu Border without passing any directions against the agitators.

It said that law and order is a state subject and it is entirely the responsibility of the state to assess the ground realities, threat perception, likelihood of breach of peace and violation of law. “It is based on these and other inputs that blocking or unblocking of the Shambu border has to be decided by the state,” the appeal added.

“The impugned order records that 400-500 trolleys and 50-60 other vehicles with a gathering of around 500 agitators are still on site at Shambhu Border. No directions have been passed to these illegally agitating groups to vacate the highway, to stop causing inconvenience and to stop creating law and order issues. Instead, the state has been directed to reopen the Shambhu Border when such a huge number of agitators remain present at the site. The threat perception of the area remains high and the likelihood of any untoward incident cannot be ruled out,” said the Haryana government.

It further submitted that in the current situation, when there is still serious apprehension that there is a threat to life and property, the passing of such an ‘experimental order’ jeopardises law and order in the area and makes futile the attempts being made by the state over so many months to bring the area back to normalcy.

On July 12, the apex court, while hearing a related matter, asked the Haryana government to remove the barricades and questioned its authority to block the highway.

“How can a state block a highway? It has a duty to regulate traffic. We are saying open it but regulate,” the top court told the counsel appearing for the Haryana government.