The High Court has constituted a three-member panel led by a retired High Court judge to investigate the death of farmer Shubhkaran Singh.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court pulled up the agitating farmer leaders for using “children as shields” while coming down heavily on the Punjab and Haryana governments for failing to fulfil their responsibilities properly.
“Children being used as shields! This is shameful, absolutely shameful. Look at the age of children. It was a war-like situationâ€æ they (protestors) have created such a situation, to say later that women and children were injured,” a division bench of ACJ GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji said.
The court’s reaction came after the counsel representing the Haryana government showed several images of the protest.
The court said it was a matter of great shame that children were being put ahead in the protests. “What kind of parents you are,” the court said.
COURT FORMS PANEL TO PROBE DEATH OF FARMER SHUBHKARAN SINGH
The High Court also asked the Haryana government to justify what led it to open fire on protesters on February 21. The protest turned violent on February 21, leading to the death of 22-year-old Shubhkaran Singh, a farmer from Bathinda district.
The Haryana government counsel said the situation turned violent, and the police force had to use water canon, lathi charge, pellet, and rubber bullets. The government claimed 15 policemen were injured.
The bench also pulled up the Haryana government over the delay in probing the death of Shubhkaran Singh and constituted a three-member panel led by a retired High Court judge to investigate it.