The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed receivers in the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute between neighbours Punjab and Haryana and sought a report from them by December 15 on the present status of land and other properties on the canal site.
A Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Amitava Roy asked the Union Home Secretary, the Punjab Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Punjab Police to report back to the apex court by December 15 the present situation of the lands in question. The court made it clear that the Receivers will not take possession of the disputed lands meant for the SYL canal project.
The three officers were earlier appointed receivers on March 17 on the plea of Haryana and they were given powers to take possession of the project land.
Act set aside
A five-judge Constitution Bench had on November 10 set aside the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004 which “unilaterally” terminated the 1981 water-sharing pact of the State with Haryana.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Haryana, read reports suggesting that the Punjab government had already denotified the lands acquired for the SYL canal project to return them to the farmers. “After a decree of the court, no legislative action is allowed and surely not executive action to defeat the decree,” Mr. Divan submitted.
Punjab’s lawyers and senior advocates Ram Jethmalani and Harish Salve said the State was willing to accept notice on Haryana’s plea to enforce the apex court verdicts and continue with the SYL canal project. Mr. Jethmalani said the issue required a detailed hearing and a decision should be made not in legalistic terms but on patriotic terms, taking into consideration national unity and the welfare of Haryana.
“This is a difficult situation. Please do not pass any orders which will bring about any confrontation,” Mr. Salve submitted.
Haryana had rushed to the court after Punjab decided to denotify project land and give them back to farmers.
