Asking the Centre to explain if it can be done under the existing laws, a bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya sought the Union government's view on the issue within a week.
The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition, filed by former IPS officer Prakash Singh seeking its direction to frame guidelines for preventing agitations leading to large-scale destruction of property and disruption of traffic through blockage of roads, highways and railway tracks.
Singh filed the petition to prevent a repeat of last year's three-month blockade of the national highway running through the state of Nagaland.
The apex court is also hearing a case involving the rail and road blockade by protestors from the Jat community in Jind district of Haryana last year, leading to destruction of railway properties.
Meanwhile, the Centre too submitted its suggestion for resolving such crisis in a time-bound manner and to bring culprits, indulging in such agitation, to justice. (More)