NEW DELHI: The Punjab-Haryana dispute on the Satluj-Yamuna Link canal flared up after the Supreme Court declared Punjab's 2004 law that unilaterally scrapped the 1981 agreement to share Ravi and Beas rivers as "unconstitutional". The ruling triggered a massive political response ahead of the Punjab polls due next year as Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh resigned as the Amritsar Lok Sabha MP. All party MLAs from the assembly also resigned.
Meanwhile, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP state government announced that not a single drop will be shared even if it meant defying the SC. With the Jat Sikh farmers dominating state politics, no party can afford to alienate the key constituency. In a ruling that was delivered over 10 years later, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice AR Dave said Punjab could not unilaterally terminate the agreement by unconstitutional methods. Also striking down the Punjab law, the apex court said the state has to construct the unfinished portion of the SYL canal, according to January 2002 and June 2004 judgments. Openly defying the bench, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal remained adamant to his stand saying his government would not share a single drop of water with other states even if it meant going to jail. Meeting with the press after an emergency state cabinet meeting, Badal said fighting for the rights of Punjab's farmers was his priority.
Parallely, Amarinder, after his resignation, said his party would now go to the people to give them a mandate so that the Punjab assembly could pass a fresh law against the Supreme Court's order. He also criticised the government for challenging the Court." In an act of protest, all 42 Congress legislators resigned from the assembly a day after Amarinder quit. The state government is in the works to bring a new bill on the inter-state water dispute, a move that could potentially complicate the legal fight with Haryana. The SAD-BJP government asked President Pranab Mukherjee to ignore the SC's ruling terming it as "unconstitutional".
State government sources said the fresh bill was likely to be introduced at a special session of the assembly, and that the government has asked advocate general Ashok Aggarwal and other top legal personalities to put in place a strategy to hit-back politically and stay ahead of the Congress which has blamed the ruling alliance of failing to protect Punjab's interest in court. "The Supreme Court's judicial reference is not a binding on President who may accept, reject, or sent back to Supreme Court for fresh opinion. Punjab government has set up a team of lawyers, including me, to examine the advisory," Aggarwal said.
In his letter to the Prez, Badal wrote, "The Constitution clearly forbids the Centre from arrogating to itself the right to adjudicate on distribution of river waters among states. Grave injustice has been done to Punjab by the Centre, violating this Constitutional clause."
