In September 2024, the Supreme Court formed a committee headed by Punjab and Haryana High Court judge (Retd) Nawab Singh to amicably resolve the grievances of protesting farmers on the border of Shambhu and Khanauri. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the committee to hold meetings with the farmers. Another such meeting that was supposed to be held in Haryana’s Panchkula on Friday was called off after farmers refused to attend.
Who is Justice (Retd) Nawab Singh?
Born on 11 December 1951 in a family of farmers and lawyers, Justice (Retd) Nawab Singh completed his law degree from Kurukshetra University in 1974. Due to his background in agriculture, he is considered to be well-versed in the issues faced by farmers. On the ground.
At a press conference at the Chandigarh Press Club in April 2024, Justice Singh strongly advocated a new capital and a separate high court for Haryana. “This demand … is appropriate and the state government will have to pay attention to this first,” he said.
After retiring from the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2013, he was appointed as the president of the Haryana Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, the main body to decide cases related to state consumer disputes.
In his early years, Singh worked as an advocate in the Haryana district of Ambala before he was appointed to the Superior Judicial Services in 1984 as an additional district and sessions judge. In 1999, he was promoted to the post of district and sessions judge and served in various districts. He was also a registrar (vigilante) of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Before his elevation as a high court judge in April 2007, Justice Singh also served as the secretary general of the high court. While he was a judge of the high court, he served as a member of various committees, including the construction committee, the juvenile justice monitoring committee, the Board of Governors’ Judicial Academy Chandigarh and the recruitment committee for higher judicial services. His father, a prominent landowner, was a prominent lawyer in Haryana.
Apart from Justice Nawab Singh, the committee formed to hold talks with the farmers includes retired IPS officer and former Haryana DGP PS Sandhu; Dr. Devinder Sharma; Ranjit Singh Ghumman, Professor of Eminence at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar; Punjab Agriculture University Agricultural Economist Dr Sukhpal Singh; and Professor BR Kambhoj, Vice Chancellor of Chaudhary Charan Singh Agriculture University, Hisar as special guest.
Protesting farmers in Shambu and Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border are currently preparing to mark a year of unrest demanding the implementation of 14 demands, including a statutory guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP).
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