NEW DELHI: A day after a man’s body with hand chopped off was found at the farmers’ protest site at the Singhu border, a plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing of a pending petition which has sought removal of protestors.
The body of Lakhbir Singh (35) from Punjab’s Tarn Taran, was found tied to an overturned police barricade at the site where farmers are protesting three Central farm laws for over 10 months. His body bore multiple wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons and the incident is being blamed on a group of Nihangs.
Referring to the incident, a fresh plea has been filed for urgent hearing of the PIL, pending since March this year, which said, “The right to freedom of speech and expression cannot supersede the right to life and if this protest is allowed to go in like this, the nation at large will be at a loss.”
The interim application has been filed by Swati Goel and Sanjeev Newar in their pending PIL through lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha. Meanwhile, the top court is also hearing a separate plea of a Noida resident Monicca Agrawaal.
She has sought the removal of blockades saying earlier it took 20 minutes to reach Delhi and now it is taking over two hours and that people of the area are facing hardships due to the protests at the UP Gate on the Delhi border.