New Delhi: The Supreme Court today observed that farmers have a right to protest, but have to be non-violent. It said that the farmers protesting near Delhi cannot block a city.

The remarks were made by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde while hearing a petition seeking to remove protesting farmers from Delhi border areas.

“A protest is constitutional till it does not destroy property or endanger life. The Centre and farmers have to talk; we are thinking of an impartial and independent committee before whom both parties can give its side of story to resolve impasse on farm laws,” the court said.

It added: “The independent committee can have P Sainath, Bhartiya Kisan Union and others as members. You (farmers) cannot instigate violence and cannot block a city like this.”

Senior advocate Harish Salve, who was representing one of the petitioners, said ‘Protests cannot be just for protest, but to articulate point of view,’ the court said, ‘That is exactly what we mean’.

“Protest’s purpose must be fulfilled by non-violent means. Protests must be about issues. Aggrieved parties must be allowed to articulate and the party that caused the problem must be allowed to answer,” the Chief Justice said.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who is leading the government side in the negotiations, said the ongoing agitation at Delhi’s borders is limited to one state and farmers of Punjab are being ‘misled’ by the opposition. He, however, expressed hope that there will be a solution ‘soon’ to the ongoing impasse.

Protesting farmer unions said constituting a new panel to break the stalemate on the three new agri laws is not a solution as they want a complete withdrawal of the legislations. They also said the government should have formed a committee of farmers and others before the laws were enacted by Parliament.