Furnish Dallewal's comparative medical reports: SC to state govt

HARYANA POLICE HAVE ENHANCED SECURITY ON ITS SIDE OF BORDER AND IMPOSED SECTION 163 OF THE BNSS

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Punjab government to furnish a complete set of comparative medical reports of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on hunger strike since November 26, 2024, for an independent evaluation by the director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

The farmers, led by Dallewal, have been camping along the border since February 2024, demanding systemic agricultural reforms and legal guarantees for Minimum Support Price (MSP) -- the price at which the government procures key crops.

A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh ordered that Dallewal's medical reports, covering the period from December to January 14, be submitted by the state to the registrar of the Supreme Court during the course of the day. The registrar will then forward these reports for examination by the AIIMS director, who in turn will submit his opinion by January 22.

The directive was issued after Punjab's chief secretary informed the court that Dallewal's platelet count and haemoglobin levels had improved to 243 and 14.52 respectively, compared to his December readings.

The court's intervention came as Dallewal's hunger strike entered its 51st day, drawing attention to the farmers' protest at the Punjab-Haryana border, which has lasted for nearly a year.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Punjab government, initially submitted that Dallewal's health parameters were "improving," citing a report from the medical board overseeing his condition. This prompted justice Kant to express scepticism, questioning how a person fasting for over 49 days could show signs of improvement.

"How can it happen? On one hand, you are saying your doctors are there 24x7, and your medical team is monitoring him. How are the parameters improving?" asked the bench.