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Warning that the Punjab government is responsible for the health of Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a fast for 25 days, the Supreme Court on Friday said it should take a call on shifting the farmer leader to a makeshift hospital where his medical parameters can be monitored.
The Supreme Court's warning comes a day after Mr Dallewal fell and fainted for 8-10 minutes and doctors said that his life was "hanging by a thread".
During Friday's hearing, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan asked Advocate General Gurminder Singh, representing the Punjab government, why Mr Dallewal was not shifted to the makeshift hospital, which is just 700 metres from the site at the Khanauri border between Punjab and Haryana where he is holding his protest.
Mr Dallewal has been on an indefinite fast since November 26 to press the Centre to accept the demands of protesting farmers, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Mr Singh informed the court that, with Mr Dallewal's cooperation, an echocardiogram (ECG) and blood and other tests have been conducted and his health appears to be stable.
The bench said, "The Punjab government should take a call on admitting him (Mr Dallewal) to the hospital. Ensuring his stable health is the constitutional duty and responsibility of the Punjab government. His health should be constantly monitored and arrangements should be made accordingly. "
Advocate General Singh also informed the court that the Punjab chief secretary has constituted a panel of doctors to monitor Mr Dallewal's health.
The court then set January 2 as the next date of hearing and asked the Punjab chief secretary and the medical superintendent of the makeshift hospital to submit an affidavit by then.
A 'jatha' (group) of 101 farmers had to call off their march to Delhi to press their demands for the third time on December 14 after tear gas and water cannons were used, injuring at least 10 of them. Two other attempts had to be similarly abandoned on December 6 and December 8. The farmers then held a tractor march to the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab on December 16 and a 'rail roko' protest in Punjab on December 18.