New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain the Centre’s plea seeking to restrain the agitating farmers from taking out a kisan tractor rally on Republic Day in Delhi and regretted that the “reputation” of the four members of the expert committee set up by it to end the deadlock was being “torn to shreds”.
However, it issued notice on the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lokshakti) plea for reconstitution of the expert committee formed to hear all parties to the dispute and submit a report with its recommendations.
Telling attorney-general K.K. Venugopal and solicitor-general Tushar Mehta it was for the police to take a call on allowing or not allowing the rally, Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde, heading a three-judge bench that included Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, asked them to withdraw the application the seeking restraint order, which they did.
The court also turned down a plea by the attorney-general and solicitor-general to keep…