The Punjab government informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal was willing to consider ending his fast provided the Centre agreed to a discussion on minimum support price (MSP).

“As per the negotiations, there is a proposal given by the farmers to the central government that if they get an invitation for talks, then Dallewal is ready to get medical aid as desired,” Punjab advocate-general Gurmeet Singh told a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

However, the bench said it was only concerned with compliance with its December 20 order by which it had directed the Punjab government to provide medical assistance to Dallewal and decide on his hospitalisation.

Singh sought more time for the state government to comply with the order. He submitted that intervenors and negotiators had tried to follow the court directive by engaging the farmers in a dialogue. Additionally, the state government mobilised 7,000 personnel at the protest site, but farmer organisations’ call for a Punjab bandh on Monday hindered its efforts, Singh said.

The bench recorded the submissions and posted the matter on January 2. “We are inclined to accept the request to afford some more time for compliance with the directions issued by the court,” the bench said.

Punjab’s chief secretary and director-general of police were directed to continue to appear virtually during the hearing.

On December 27, the apex court had asked the state government to deal with troublemakers with “an iron hand”, saying it felt they were resisting the availability of medical aid to Dallewal.

The Punjab government had said it faced huge resistance from the protesting farmers who had encircled Dallewal and prevented him from being taken to hospital. The top court had blamed the state government for not doing enough to contain the situation.