The Supreme Court on Wednesday indicated that it may form a panel having representatives of the Centre as well as the farmers’ unions, as both the parties remain in a deadlock over the three new farm laws, which the peasants want to repeal.

A bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde, and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian proposed the formation of this committee across the country to ensure the end to this impasse between the farmers and the government.

The top court was hearing a bunch of pleas seeking removal of the protesting farmers from the borders of Delhi as it poses inconvenience to commuters and may cause spread in Covid-19 infections.

In the hearing conducted via video conferencing, the bench directed the petitioners to make protesting farmer unions parties to the pleas and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday. It also issued a notice to the Centre and others regarding the petitions.

“Your negotiations with protesting farmers have not worked apparently till now,” the bench told the Centre.

“This will soon become a national issue and will have to be solved through negotiations,” Bobde was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench in reply that the government will not do anything against the interest of farmers.

“Different ministers talked to them. But they turned their chairs back and did not talk to them,” Mehta said.

In one of the pleas filed earlier this month, petitioner Rishabh Sharma, a Delhi University law student, also cited the hardships the border siege was inflicting on the public.

“Lives of lakhs of people protesting at Delhi’s borders (are) at immediate threat since the virus is very contagious and if by chance this coronavirus disease takes the shape of community spread, it will cause havoc in the country,” the petition said.

It sought the court’s “immediate intervention” and “appropriate direction for restricting mass gathering of people at any place”.