The Centre told Supreme Court it is not taking sides in the dispute between Punjab and Haryana over the sharing of water through Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal. The Centre’s submission came a few hours before the Punjab Assembly passed the bill against the construction of contentious SYL canal providing for transfer of proprietary rights back to the land owners free of cost.
Appearing for Haryana, Senior advocate Shyam Divan, submitted that the Presidential Reference pertaining to Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 has been pending since that year. He said that when the hearing has now started, the Punjab Cabinet has taken a decision which threatens the federal structure of the Constitution.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar made the statement that in the hearing on Presidential Reference ‘the Centre will not take any side’ and later the top law officer, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi joined him and made an identical submission. The Attorney General said, in the prevailing scenario, the hearing should be adjourned after which the bench agreed to hear it on Thursday.
