The Supreme Court today constituted a committee headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Nawab Singh to amicably resolve the grievances of protesting farmers at the Shambhu border. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the committee to hold its first meeting within a week.

The apex court said the farmers’ issues should not be politicized and should be considered by the committee in a phased manner. The top court also stated that farmers will be at liberty to shift their peaceful agitations to alternative sites. The court was hearing the Haryana government’s plea challenging the high court’s order asking it to remove, within a week, the barricades erected at the Shambhu border near Ambala, where protesting farmers have been camping since February 13.